India has paused the exports of Covishield prepared by Serum Institute of India, that is a equivalent of Astra Zeneca-Oxford vaccine. The exports have been blocked because India and China are looking out to drive region's distribution efforts in the coming months.
India launched its biggest vaccination drive on January 16. Drugs and Controller General of India (DCGI) gave approval to Covishield and Covaxin. However, the Phase-3 results of Covaxin are awaited. The DCGI gave "emergency approval for restricted use."
While Covaxin is an indigenous vaccine prepared by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech, Covishield is prepared by Serum Institue of India that is an equivalent of Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.
The report published in Moodys Analytics also termed India's inoculation drive as an important development. "This is an important development. As India is the second most-impacted country in the world, after the US, the need for local immunization is paramount to contain the significant socioeconomic costs, and the country's success in advancing on this front will eventually soften the severity of the pandemic within the region," it said.
Besides India, several other nations have successfully developed vaccines against the virus. US Biotech giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech say they have a highly successful vaccine on November 9. Similar announcements came from US firm Moderna, followed by Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine.
Britain approved vaccines and became the first country to roll out nationwide vaccination program.
Sputnik-V of Russia and China's Sinopharm and Sinovac also rolled out but didn't receive full approval.
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