The Serum Institute of India (SII) expects the government to give emergency use authorisation for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in the next few days after the United Kingdom on December 30 approved the coronavirus jab for use.
Speaking to CNBC TV-18, Cyrus Poonawalla, the chairman of Poonawalla Group that includes Serum Institute of India, said, "SII is expecting regulatory approval in India in the next few days."
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The government was yet to place a purchase order for the Covishield vaccine, Poonawalla said. "SII is ready to distribute the vaccine once the approval comes in. India will come first, then other countries," he added.#CNBCTV18Exclusive | Oxford-AstraZeneca #vaccine approved for emergency use by the UK regulator. Cyrus Poonawalla tells @ekta_batra & @archanajsr that the @SerumInstIndia expects regulatory approval in the next few days in India (2/2) pic.twitter.com/7OyTHMoVCq
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) December 30, 2020
Britain became the first nation to approve the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
The United Kingdom government said that it accepted a recommendation from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) "to authorise Oxford University/AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for use". The rollout is expected to begin as early as next week.
Earlier, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla had also said that the vaccine maker is hoping for the emergency use approval of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of this month or January in India.
"The emergency use licensure is expected to come by December or January in the UK, and simultaneously we hope to get approval in India as well," CEO Adar Poonawalla said.
"There are no concerns at all (with vaccine safety and efficacy), we will be hearing some good news very soon. All the data has been submitted to the UK and Indian regulators. We must respect the process adopted by the regulators," Poonawalla added.
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