Desk Report
Publish: 18 Aug 2021, 05:49 pm
Covishield is India's most widely used vaccine (Photo: Collected)
The World Health
Organization (WHO) said it has identified counterfeit versions of India's
primary Covid vaccine, Covishield, reports BBC.
The doses were seized
by authorities in India and Africa between July and August, a WHO statement
said.
It also said the
vaccine's maker, Serum Institute of India, confirmed that the doses were fake.
The WHO warned that
fake vaccines "pose a serious risk to global public health".
It called for their
removal from circulation.
There has been no
official statement by the Indian government, but local reports said the
country's health ministry was investigating the matter.
"Although we have
a strong system to prevent such cases, with this development, the only thing we
want to ensure is that no Indian received a fake vaccine," an unidentified
health official told the Mint news website.
Covishield is the
Indian-made version of AstraZeneca's jab and is the most widely used vaccine in
India with more than 486 million doses administered so far.
Serum had supplied
millions of Covishield vaccines to countries in Asia, Africa and South America
- as part of deals that were inked with various governments and the global
Covax scheme for poorer countries.
India also sent
Covishield doses to some of its neighbours as part of Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's "vaccine diplomacy".
But in the wake of a
devastating second Covid wave in April and May, the government decided to
accelerate the vaccine drive and banned exports.
Serum has since
maintained that their priority remains India's own needs - and they may not
export again until the end of this year.
India, which is the
second worst-affected country in the world, aims to vaccinate all its people by
the end of this year.
About 13% of the
population has been fully vaccinated since the beginning of the drive in
January.
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Topic : World Health Organization Covishield
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