Breaking News : INDIA

Sunday, January 3, 2021 1:06 AM EST

The approvals were announced at a news conference in New Delhi on Sunday.

Dr. V.G. Somani, the drugs controller general of India, said the decision

to approve the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine

and a local vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech

came after “careful examination” of both by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization

India’s pharmaceutical regulator.

www.nytimes.com/2021/01/03/world/asia/in...806fcec17a453ae7e45a

By Emily Schmall and Sameer Yasir

Jan. 3, 2021 Updated 3:48 a.m. ET

NEW DELHI — India said on Sunday that it had approved two coronavirus vaccines :

one made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University

and the other developed in India

for emergency use, a major step toward halting the spreading .......

Pun intended ? nice line there, Chairman !

Krishna Ella, chairman of Bharat Biotech, said the approval of Covaxin had not been rushed.

"Under Indian laws we can get emergency approval for the vaccine

based on fulfilling five parameters after Phase 2 trails.

That is what has happened with our vaccine. So it is not a premature approval," he said.

"We will complete the Phase 3 trials soon and provide the efficacy data for the vaccine by February."

India will launch its vaccination drive against the coronavirus on 16 January

PM Narendra Modi called it a "landmark step"

and said the aim was to vaccinate 300 million people by July.

India has a population of 1.3 billion.

Healthcare staff and front-line workers will be among the first to receive doses, he added.

India has recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world, after the US.

India's Drugs Controller General, VG Somani

insisted Covaxin was "safe and provides a robust immune response".

"The vaccines are 100% safe," he said, adding that side effects such as

"mild fever, pain and allergy are common for every vaccine".

The regulator said the vaccine had been approved for :

"restricted use in emergency situation in public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode

especially in the context of infection by mutant strains".