Bharat Biotech to make 700 million doses in 2021

COVAXIN received emergency use approval from the DCGI but the move faced questions after the regulator took the step without publishing information about its efficacy.

But, Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and MD, Bharat Biotech said that the company carried out “200 per cent honest clinical trials” in an online address to the media.

Efficacy data from the company’s ongoing late-stage trial should be available by March, Ella said.

Health Minister Harsh Vardhan clarified on Twitter that the emergency use approval for COVAXIN was “in clinical trial mode”, wherein all recipients of the vaccine would be tracked and monitored as if they were in trial.

The company is also investing in four manufacturing facilities and is planning to make around 200 million doses in Hyderabad and 500 million doses in other cities this year. The company has 20 million available doses so far.