Govt rejects claims that regulatory approval for Covaxin rushed due to Political Pressure

The government has rejected media reports which claim that regulatory approval for Covaxin was rushed due to Political Pressure. The reports claimed that Bharat Biotech, manufacturer of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine – Covaxin, had to skip certain processes and speed up clinical trials due to political pressure. Union Health Ministry said, these media reports are completely misleading, fallacious and ill-informed.

The Ministry said the national regulator – Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSO) have followed a scientific approach and prescribed norms in approving COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use authorization. It said, authorization to COVID-19 vaccines for restricted use in emergency situation were granted by the national regulator only on the recommendations of the Subject Expert Committee of CDSCO.