Moderna Covid-19 vaccine had become the fourth approved vaccine in India after it received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India, the Centre informed on Tuesday.
NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul confirmed during a press briefing that the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine has received the EUA.
With this official confirmation, Moderna becomes the fourth coronavirus vaccine to receive emergency use authorisation in India.
Dr VK Paul said: “An application received from Moderna through an Indian partner has received emergency use authorisation. This potentially opens up the likelihood of the vaccine being imported in the near future. This will be the fourth vaccine.”
“There are now four vaccines in India — Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V, and Moderna. We will soon close the deal on Pfizer as well,” the NITI Aayog member added.
It must be noted that last week Pfizer’s chief executive Albert Bourla said that the company was in the final stages to get approval for the coronavirus vaccine in India. ” I hope very soon we will finalise an agreement with the govt,” Bourla had said.
The Pfizer-BioNTech shot has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) and other western regulators for emergency use. The vaccine is also authorised for use in teens in the US.
Dr Paul added further said: “Moderna is coming as a ready-to-inject vaccine. We hope we manufacture the vaccine in India in the future. This vaccine needs to be kept in minus 20 degree temperature for seven-month long-term storage; normal cold chain storage will suffice if it is kept for a 30-day period.”