WHO approves Serum Institute`s COVID vaccine, Covovax

Covovax is a COVID-19 vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with the US-based Novavax.

New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced that it has granted emergency approval to the COVID-19 vaccine Covovax, made in collaboration with the US-based Novavax paving the way for its inclusion in the UN-backed programme to get such vaccines to poorer countries around the world.

“Today, the World Health Organization issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for NVX-CoV2373, expanding the basket of WHO-validated vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine, named CovovaxTM, is produced by the Serum Institute of India under licence from Novavax and is part of the COVAX facility portfolio, giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries,” read the global health body’s release.

The WHO’s release said that the listing aims to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine to the underprivileged and lower-income countries, 41 of which have still not been able to vaccinate 10% of their populations, while 98 countries have not reached 40%.

Serum Institute’s CEO Adar Poonawalla on Friday took to Twitter to announce the good news.

Calling it another milestone for the country, Poonawalla wrote, “This is yet another milestone in our fight against COVID-19, Covovax is now WHO approved for emergency use, showing excellent safety and efficacy. Thank you all for a great collaboration.”