KOLKATA: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s urgent intervention on Thursday for an early World Health Organisation approval for Covaxin.
“You are aware that the Bengal government has taken up vaccination in right earnest and, till date, we have already administered more than 2 crore doses.
We have been receiving both Covishield and Covaxin.
A large number of students from all over the country travel abroad every year for higher studies and many of them have got themselves vaccinated with Covaxin,” Banerjee wrote in her letter to Modi.
But there was widespread apprehension among students travelling abroad who had taken Covaxin because of WHO’s “non-recognition”, she said on Thursday while talking to the media about her letter to PM Modi.
People “travelling abroad for jobs, education, business and other purposes” would benefit if the Indian government pursued the matter with WHO, Banerjee added in her letter to the PM.
Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech and WHO have had a “pre-submission” meeting for international emergency use listing of the vaccine.
Bharat Biotech spokespersons have said they have already submitted 90% of the paperwork required for getting the WHO nod.
The Hyderabad-based manufacturer has said it is confident of getting the nod, “given its experience of getting other vaccines pre-qualified by WHO”.
WHO’s emergency use listing is a procedure for assessing and listing new or unlicensed products that can be used during public health emergencies.