WHO suspends UN supply of Bharat Biotech corona vaccine Covaxin

The World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended the supply of Bharat Biotech's corona vaccine Covaxin through the United Nations agencies. This decision has been taken with a view to remove the deficiencies found in the inspection and upgrade the facilities. According to the WHO statement, countries receiving the vaccine have been asked to take appropriate action, but it is not clear what the appropriate action will be.

The WHO said the vaccine is effective and there are no concerns about safety, but suspending production for export would disrupt the supply of covaccine. The suspension is in response to the results of a WHO Post Emergency Use Listing (EUL) inspection from March 14 to 22. The vaccine maker has also indicated its commitment to suspend production of Covaxin for export.

Decision to reduce production of covaccine for some time

Earlier, drug maker Bharat Biotech had said that it is temporarily reducing the production of Kovaccine, a vaccine for Kovid-19, in all its manufacturing units. The company said it has already fulfilled its supply obligations to procurement agencies and demand is expected to remain subdued. In this situation it has been decided to reduce the production.

Bharat Biotech said in a statement that for the coming period, the company will focus on maintenance, process and facility optimization activities. During the past one year, all existing units for continuous production of the vaccine were renovated to manufacture Covaccine, the company said. Therefore, keeping all these aspects in mind, it is necessary to work to upgrade the facilities.