India approves two new Covid vaccines, bring total to eight
India has approved two new vaccines amid fears of a third wave of Omicron.
The new vaccines – Serum Institute of India’s Covovax and Biological E’s Corbevax – have both been authorized for “restricted use in an emergency situation”.
India has now approved eight vaccines, three of which have been developed in India.
The country has so far given more than 1.4 billion doses.
The government aimed to vaccinate all Indians by the end of this year but is falling short of that target. About 62% of eligible adults have been fully vaccinated and more than 90% have received at least one jab since the beginning of the drive-in January.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India would begin administering booster shots – or “precaution doses” as he called them – to healthcare and frontline workers, and those above 60 with comorbidities from 10 January.
He said India would also begin vaccinating 15-18-year-olds from 3 January.
India’s daily caseload is around 6,000, but cases of the Omicron variant – about 653 now – have been rising in several states, prompting night curfews and a slew of other restrictions.
It’s unclear still if the newly approved vaccines will be deployed for booster shots, or if the government will insist on the third shot being the same as the first two.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES