Pfizer Inc has applied for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India, media said on Sunday, the first to do so in a country with the world’s second-highest number of infections.
The US company, whose vaccine was recently approved by the British government, has written to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), CNN-News18 reported citing a government source.
Officials at the DCGI and the health ministry did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. A government official, however, told Reuters that no application had been received as of Saturday night.
Pfizer could not immediately be reached.
Indian officials have said they are pinning their hopes mainly on locally tested vaccines instead of those developed by Pfizer and Moderna Inc.
The Pfizer shot needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below, temperatures that most Indian cold storages cannot reach.
India has reported more 9.57 million Covid-19 cases, behind only the United States, with nearly 140,000 deaths.
Reuters
Follow us on:
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has condemned the commercialisation of GMO seeds, warning of threats to Nigeria’s food…
Oleksandr Usyk has secured victory over Tyson Fury in Riyadh, successfully defending his heavyweight championship…
Albania plans a one-year TikTok ban from January after a schoolboy’s death sparks concerns over…
A suspect accused of killing five people by driving into a crowded Christmas market in…
A US Navy F/A-18 Hornet was mistakenly shot down over the Red Sea by the…
NNPC has reduced petrol ex-depot price to N899 per litre, sparking competition with Dangote Refinery…