India's Bharat Biotech resumes exports of home-grown Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin

Bharat Biotech said it would be exporting its Covaxin vaccine to additional countries. PHOTO: REUTERS

BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Indian vaccine maker Bharat Biotech said on Monday (Nov 29) it has resumed export of its Covid-19 vaccine shot, Covaxin, and executed long-pending orders in November.

The company also said exports to additional countries will commence from December, according to a statement it shared on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear whether or not these exports were made under the global vaccine-sharing facility Covax.

Covaxin, which is 78 per cent effective against severe cases of Covid-19, was approved for emergency use listing by the World Health Organisation earlier this month.

It is the only home-grown vaccine being used in India's vaccination programme, although it accounts for only about 11 per cent of the nearly 1.23 billion doses administered so far.

Last Friday, India restarted exports of Covid-19 vaccine shots to Covax for the first time since April.

Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine maker, said it was able to recommence exports as it beat its target of producing one billion doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine ahead of time.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.