Decision on emergency use listing of Covaxin likely in 4-6 weeks: WHO

The World Health Organization WHO is likely to take a decision on including Bharat Biotechs Covid19 vaccine Covaxin in the emergency use list EUL within four to six weeks Soumya Swaminathan the global health bodys chief scientist has saidSpeaking at a webinar organised by the Centre for Science and Environment CSE on July 9 Swaminathan said the WHO is reviewing Covaxin as its manufacturer Bharat Biotech is now uploading its entire data on the health bodys portal According to WHO guidelines EUL is a procedure to streamline the process by which new or unlicensed products can be used during public health emergenciesThere is a process to be followed for EUL and prequalification of vaccines under which a company has to complete phase 3 trials and submit the whole data to the regulatory department of WHO which is examined by an expert advisory group Swaminathan said The completeness of the data which includes safety and efficacy and also the manufacturing quality the standard is provided So I expect that Bharat Biotech has already submitted data and in four to six weeks there will be a decision on its inclusion Swaminathan addedAt present the WHO has approved vaccines by PfizerBioNTech AstrazenecaSK BioSerum Institute of India AstraZeneca EU Janssen Moderna and Sinopharm for emergency use We currently have six vaccines approved with EUL and have recommendations from our Strategic Advisory Group of Experts SAGE We continue to look at Covaxin Bharat Biotech has now started uploading their data on our portal and that is the next vaccine that will be reviewed by our experts committee the chief scientist saidShe also mentioned the WHO Research and Development Blueprint prepared in 2016 shortly after the Ebola outbreak in which a research roadmap for diseases with pandemic potential was laid out I want to mention the Research and Development RampD Blueprint I think we need to think about how we can do better in the future in terms of the development of not just vaccines but drugs diagnostics and ensuring equitable access This blueprint was developed after the Ebola outbreak and essentially it laid out a research roadmap for diseases which have pandemic potential she saidSo when the roadmap was developed in 2016 it mentioned Pathogen X in it which showed that we were anticipating a pandemic which is now Covid19 she added Swaminathan also said the roadmap essentially laid out the steps in terms of developing target product profiles like standards for vaccines diagnostics regulatory standards trial designs and trial simulators This prethinking helped because WHO was able to bring together scientists researchers academics and companies at the beginning of last year to develop a research roadmap for Covid19 she saidAt present there are 105 candidate vaccines in clinical evaluation out of which 27 are in phase three or four she said There are another 184 candidate vaccines in preclinical evaluation Most of the vaccines are designed for a twodose schedule she added The WHO chief scientist also said the Delta variant of the coronavirus is very transmissibleAlso ReadSecond wave not over need to follow Covid protocols GovtTwo complete doses are required for protection against the Delta variant but you can still get the infection and can transmit it This is why masking and other precautions are important to continue she said Talking about some companies stressing on the need to develop a booster dose after two vaccine shots doses to protect people Swaminathan said at this point there is no data to indicate if a booster dose is requiredScience is evolving At this point we dont have data to indicate that everyone will need a booster and is it going to be after one year or two years But data from follow up studies of vaccinated people are very encouraging and is showing that immune responses are lasting up to 8 10 or even 12 months she saidA few studies that have looked at giving booster dose after six months have shown that it can increase the antibody levels so high that they can protect against all variants What we know is you need a high level of antibodies whether its through a booster or the first course We need more studies and see which vaccines will require a booster and when It could be possible that a combination of two different vaccines is administered in future but these are all being looked into through research and so we have to wait she saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever