In parallel, Brazil's private clinics struck a preliminary deal for an alternative injection made by India's Bharat Biotech despite a lack of public results from late-stage trials. On Sunday, India's drugs regulator DCGI approved Covaxin and AstraZeneca's vaccine for emergency use, the first approvals of vaccines in India. The fast-tracking of the homegrown Bharat Biotech vaccine faced questions from industry experts and opposition lawmakers because the company has not published efficacy data. A spokeswoman for Bharat Biotech said 24,000 volunteers have been recruited out of a target of 26,000 for the Phase III trial, which began in November. The pharmaceutical company, based in Hyderabad in southern India, produces millions of doses of vaccines for hepatitis, Zika, Japanese encephalitis and others illnesses.

Source: bd News24 January 04, 2021 18:45 UTC