The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday granted emergency use listing (EUL) to Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.
This comes after the Technical Advisory Group (TAG), an independent advisory committee of WHO, recommended EUL status for Covaxin.
"WHO has granted emergency use listing (EUL) to #COVAXIN (developed by Bharat Biotech), adding to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by WHO for the prevention of COVID-19," the global health body said in a tweet.
Dr Poonam Khetarpal Singh, Regional Director of WHO South East Asia, in a tweet, said, "Congratulations India for Emergency Use Listing of its indigenously produced COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin."
Meanwhile, the WHO approval for 'Made in India' Covaxin comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the G20 summit recently. According to a News18 report, PM Modi had pushed for the approval of Covaxin with the WHO Director-General.
In his address at the G-20 Summit, PM Modi said India is ready to produce over 5 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic. He also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this.