India approves the fourth vaccine, Moderna, for emergency use

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Serum Institute of India's Covishield were the vaccines utilised in India so far. Sputnik, a Russian vaccine, was also certified lately.

The specifics of a rollout strategy have yet to be revealed. It's unclear how many dosages and when they'll be available in India. According to sources, Cipla is only interested in collecting donated vaccines for the time being; commercial deals are still being finalised.

“An application submitted by Moderna through one of its Indian partners, Cipla, was given new medicine approval for restricted use, often known as emergency use authorisation. This is the first internationally designed vaccine for which such approval has been granted, and this could mean that the vaccine will be imported into India shortly. Let's see how this chance for vaccine access in the country is used. During the Union health ministry's media briefing, Dr. VK Paul, member (health), Niti Aayog, said, "There must be further formalities that they will have to follow, but a very crucial licensing has been provided."

Moderna is providing an undefined number of doses to India through the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi's COVAX mechanism, which Cipla is arranging and approving. Cipla said in a statement that it is "assisting Moderna with regulatory authorisation and the importation of vaccinations for donation to India." There is no formal agreement on commercial suppliers at this time.” It was unclear how many dosages would be imported or when they would arrive.

Moderna stated in a statement that the Indian government has provided a registration certificate and authorisation to import the Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use only. “I want to thank the government of India for this authorization, which marks an important step forward in the global fight against the pandemic,” Company’s CEO said.

The vaccine, mRNA-1273, from Moderna TX, Inc., is a two-dose vaccine that must be administered 28 days apart.

mRNA vaccines, or messenger RNA vaccines, are a relatively new vaccine technology platform. The Moderna vaccine was 94.1 percent effective in preventing laboratory-confirmed Covid-19 infection in adults aged 18 and older, according to results from clinical studies