The international health body, however, maintained that data available on India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine indicated that it was effective and there were no safety concerns
An illustration of the Covaxin vaccine. Bharat Biotech
World Health Organization has suspended the supply of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, through procurement agencies of the United Nations to allow the manufacturer to upgrade facilities and address deficiencies found in an inspection.
According to several media reports, WHO has also recommended that countries that have received the vaccine must take appropriate action. However, WHO maintained that according to the data available, Covaxin has no safety concerns.
The suspension came after an inspection for ’emergency use listing’ between 14 and 22 March, and the suspension of production for export will result in the interruption of the supply.
There was a need to conduct process and facility upgrade to address recently identified good manufacturing practice (GMP) deficiencies, pointed out the international health body, reports News18.
Bharat Biotech may also suspend its production of Covaxin for export purposes.
On Friday, Bharat Biotech said it was temporarily slowing its production of Covaxin across manufacturing units for facility optimisation. The pharmaceutical firm said that, foreseeing a decrease in demand, it had already completed supply obligations to procurement agencies.
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