DCGI grants permission to Serum Institute of India to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield'

In a major development related to the COVID vaccine, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted permission to Serum Institute of India to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield'

The Pune-based company earlier stated that ChAdOx1 nCov-2019 coronavirus vaccine, developed by teams at the University of Oxford, has been shown to trigger a robust immune response in healthy adults aged 56-69 and those over 70 years of age.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the company’s pandemic level facility in Pune last month, SII Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla had said that indications suggest that the Central government may purchase 300-400 million doses by July 2021.

On Sunday, DCGI approved Serum Institute of India's 'Covishield' vaccine and Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' for emergency use, paving way for its roll-out and administration to millions.

Drugs Controller General of India grants permission to Serum Institute of India to manufacture its COVID-19 vaccine 'Covishield' pic.twitter.com/qRX3ZI9xai

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2021

Thank you Hon. Sri @narendramodi Ji, Hon. Sri @drharshvardhan Ji, @MoHFW_INDIA@ICMRDELHI@DBTIndia#DCGI_India@UniofOxford@AstraZeneca@gavi@GaviSeth@gatesfoundation and @BillGates for your support

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 3, 2021