Covovax Covid Vaccine Gets WHO Approval, Adar Poonawalla Calls It 'Another Milestone'

Covovax is now WHO approved for emergency use, showing excellent safety and efficacy, said Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla.

Covovax is Serum Institute of India's version of the Novovax Covid-19 vaccine (AFP file photo)

New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO) granted emergency use listing to Covovax, Serum Institute of India's version of the Novovax Covid-19 vaccine, on Friday.

Calling it "yet another milestone" in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic, Serum Institute of India (SII) chief Adar Poonawalla tweeted, "Covovax is now WHO approved for emergency use, showing excellent safety and efficacy."

Poonawalla also thanked Novovax, WHO, Gavi and the Gates Foundation in his tweet.

This is yet another milestone in our fight against COVID-19, Covovax is now W.H.O. approved for emergency use, showing excellent safety and efficacy. Thank you all for a great collaboration, @Novavax @WHO @GaviSeth @Gavi @gatesfoundation https://t.co/7C8RVZa3Y4

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) December 17, 2021

The world health body, in a statement, said, "Today, the World Health Organization issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for NVX-CoV2373, expanding the basket of WHO-validated vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus."

"The vaccine, named Covovax, is produced by the Serum Institute of India under licence from Novavax and is part of the Covax facility portfolio, giving a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in lower-income countries," the WHO statement said. 

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In June, Adar Poonawalla said Serum Insitute began manufacturing the first batch of Covovax.

"Excited to witness the first batch of Covovax (developed by Novavax) being manufactured this week at our facility in Pune. The vaccine has great potential to protect our future generations below the age of 18," Adar Poonawalla had tweeted.

All You Need To Know About Covovax Covid Vaccine

Last year, US firm Novavax announced a licence agreement with Serum Institute for the development and commercialisation of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in low and middle-income countries and India.

Covovax is a recombinant protein vaccine that uses spike proteins to train the body how to develop immunity against the novel coronavirus.

Covovax is a double dose vaccine and is stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius refrigerated temperatures.

The vaccine showed 90.4 per cent efficacy in a clinical trial conducted in South Africa. It showed an efficacy of 100 per cent at preventing moderate or severe Covid-19, the New York Times reported.