In a statement Monday, WHO said it was authorizing the AstraZeneca vaccines made by the Serum Institute of India and South Korea’s AstraZeneca-SKBio. WHO’s green light for the AstraZeneca vaccine is only the second one the U.N. health agency has issued after approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in December. The AstraZeneca vaccine has already been authorized in more than 50 countries, including Britain, India, Argentina and Mexico. Last week, WHO’s vaccine experts recommended the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over age 18, including in countries that have detected variants of the virus. COVAX has already missed its own goal of beginning COVID-19 vaccinations in poor countries at the same time that shots were rolled out in rich countries.

Source: Los Angeles Times February 15, 2021 20:14 UTC