Serum Institute seeks emergency use authorization for its vaccine

New Delhi : The Serum Institute of India (SII) has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorization of Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in India. The announcement comes a day after Pfizer became the first drugmaker to seek approval for emergency use of the vaccine in the nation.

The SII on Sunday released a statement and said that they are applying for the authorization as it is necessary for “unmet medical needs due to the pandemic” and “interest of the public at large”.

The phase three trials of COVISHIELD vaccine is conducted by SII, co-sponsored by the ICMR, in various parts of the country.

According to the ICMR, the SII has already manufactured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk manufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI.

Last month, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla had said that India will get 100 million Oxford vaccine shots latest by December.

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