"You are permitted to apply the shelf-life of 9 month to unlabelled vials available on hand," India's drugs controller-general, VG Somani, wrote late last month in reply to a request from the SII.AstraZeneca said in a statement last week that its product could be stored, transported and handled at normal refrigerated conditions for at least six months. The World Health Organization website also gives the shelf-life of Covishield and the South Korean-made AstraZeneca shot as six months.Somani's approval has been communicated to some African countries, but it has not been determined if his recommendation applied to unused vials . Each vial typically contains 5 millilitre of vaccine, or 10 doses.The source, with direct knowledge of the matter but not authorised to discuss it publicly, said the approval was given based on data submitted by the SII. The source did not specify what kind of data was shared by the company, the world's biggest vaccine maker.Somani, the SII and AstraZeneca did not immediately respond to requests for comment.India has so far administered 55 million Covishield doses at home and exported nearly 64 million. India is also using another vaccine developed domestically by Bharat Biotech

Source: Economic Times March 31, 2021 05:10 UTC