Covid-19: Indian health officials defend approval of vaccine

Health officials have defended India’s decision to approve a homegrown covid-19 vaccine without efficacy data—a move that triggered criticism amid speculation that regulators may have buckled under a government wish for an Indian vaccine alongside those now authorised in other countries..

Researchers have criticised the decision by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the regulatory agency, to grant accelerated approvals to the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India and the vaccine from India’s Bharat Biotech.

The health ministry has said the campaign to vaccinate around 300 million people from four priority groups—healthcare workers, public workers, people over 50, and those below 50 with comorbidities—would begin next week.

Doctors expect the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to be the first to be rolled out. The Serum Institute …