Sixth COVID-19 Vaccine Authorization Pending

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine became the sixth experimental COVID-19 vaccine approaching authorization on January 2, 2021. The India Subject Expert Committee of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation has reportedly recommended Covaxin for emergency use authorization, reported news agency ANI. The Drug Controller General of India will now take up this recommendation for a final decision.

Previously, five other COVID-19 vaccines were issued emergency authorization considerations, including BioNTech - Pfizer's Comirnaty, the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine, and recently, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency provided authorization for an emergency supply of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca on December 30, 2020.

Furthermore, Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and CanSinoBIO’s adenovirus-based viral vector Ad5-nCoV vaccine have received various authorizations.

And in the USA, the Janssen Vaccines & Prevention B.V. adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) vector-based vaccine and Novavax's NVX-CoV2373 prefusion protein subunit coronavirus vaccine candidate are currently conducting late-stage, phase 3 studies.

Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, M.D. stated in a press release issued on December 28, 2020, “We’ve continued to make important scientific progress, with each day bringing new knowledge and understanding of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, leading to the issuance of Emergency Use Authorizations for two vaccines, and an increased availability of testing and treatment options,”

As of January 2, 2020, the total number of people in the USA initiating 1st dose vaccinations reached 4,225,756, according to the U.S. CDC.