Mayawati welcomes COVID vaccine approval, urges Centre to make free arrangements for poor

After the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) VG Somani on Sunday gave the much-required green signal for the emergency use approval for two vaccines against COVID-19, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati congratulated the scientists while urging the Centre to provide free vaccination to the poor of the country.

"We welcome the indigenous vaccines against the deadly Coronavirus epidemic and many congratulations to the scientists. At the same time, there is a special request to the central government to make free arrangements for these vaccines to poor sections of the society along with all the health workers in the country," she wrote on Twitter.

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The DCGI on Sunday approved the two vaccines -- Covaxin developed by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Covishield manufactured by Pune based Serum Institute of India in collaboration with Oxford University and AstraZeneca -- for restricted use in an emergency situation.

"After adequate examination, CDSCO has decided to accept the recommendations of the Expert Committee and accordingly, vaccines of M/s Serum and M/s Bharat Biotech are being approved for restricted use in emergency situation and permission is being granted to M/s Cadila Healthcare for conduct of the Phase III clinical trial," said VG Somani.

This development has come a day after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation (CDSCO) made recommendations to the DCGI to grant permission to the two vaccines for their restricted emergency usage. Apart from the two vaccines, the DCGI has also granted permission to Cadila Healthcare to conduct the phase-III clinical trials of its vaccine candidate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a decisive turning point to strengthen a spirited fight against the Coronavirus while expressing gratitude to doctors, medical staff, scientists, police personnel, sanitation workers and Coronavirus warriors for their contribution during the adverse conditions. Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on the announcement has hailed the leadership of PM Modi and called the announcement of vaccines 'a watershed moment' for the country.

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