The approval given by the World Health Organization (WHO) to Covaxin has opened up the indigenous vaccine for worldwide use, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Balram Bhargava has said. The vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR, which comes under the Union health ministry.
The UN health body put its stamp of approval on the safety and efficacy of India's indigenous vaccine on Wednesday.
"It is a great day for India. It is a classic example of how private-public partnership has been a success in this field. The hard work of scientists and healthcare workers has led to this approval today. This makes India very proud. We should keep up this momentum," Bhargava told ANI shorty after the approval was announced on Wednesday.
"It means the whole world is open for us for sending this vaccine. And, in India, we have already administered a large number of doses, therefore we will be able to send this vaccine to the rest of the world," he added.