Health Minister Harsh Vardhan termed it a 'watershed moment in India's battle against Covid-19'
MRP for private market Rs 1,000/ dose; current licence does not allow export or sale in private market
While the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute here has 70.42% efficacy, Bharat Biotech's still does not have efficacy data as trials are underway in India
It took a chance by ramping up capacity on vaccines when they were yet to be approved and is set to emerge a global winner
Nationwide roll-out needs meticulous planning
With the government approving two Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use, Serum Institute said it is ready to roll out Covishield vaccine in India in the coming weeks
"Congress and the Opposition is not proud of anything Indian. They should introspect about how their lies on the Covid-19 vaccine will be used by vested interest groups for their own agendas," he said
He said that the vaccine will be rolled out in the next 7 to 10 days
Modi said it will make every Indian proud that both the vaccines are made in India
Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) V.G. Somani on Sunday approved Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' vaccine and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use
India would need 30 million doses in the first phase when it vaccinates the essential services workers including health care professionals, municipal and police staff, etc
Today, SII sells about 1.5 billion vaccine doses every year to 170 countries and is the largest producer of vaccines globally by number of doses
US giant Pfizer did not come to present its case on Friday before the Subject Expert Committee
The Serum Institute of India (SII), the local maker of the vaccine called Covishield, has stockpiled about 50 million doses of the vaccine, enough for 25 million people, said its CEO last week
V G Somani's statement comes even as subject expert committee is set to meet on Jan 1 to consider three emergency-use authorisation applications
Sources close to the development said the expert committee sought more information from Serum Institute regarding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
India is also considering emergency-use authorisation applications for vaccines made by Pfizer Inc with Germany's BioNTech, and by India's Bharat Biotech
SII, the world's biggest producer of vaccines, has already stockpiled about 50 million doses, enough for 25 million people
SII termed the approval for Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in the UK as encouraging news
The development came after the UK became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca