Bharat Biotech air-ships Covaxin to 11 cities on Tuesday

Bharat Biotech Covaxin
DCGI has come under flak from various quarters for approving Covaxin even before the completion of Phase 3 trials. Image courtesy: IANS

New Delhi: Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said it successfully air-shipped its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, to 11 cities across the country on Tuesday.

The Hyderabad-based vaccine major said it has donated 16.5 lakh doses to the Government of India.

"After having received the government purchase order for 55 lakh doses, the company shipped the first batch of vaccines (each vial containing 20 doses)," Bharat Biotech said in a statement.

It added that the vaccine have been sent to Ganavaram, Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Kurukshetra, Bengaluru, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai and Lucknow.

On Wednesday, the company also inked a pact with Precisa Medicamentos, a Brazilian company, to supply the COVID-19 vaccine candidate to the Latin American country.

Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.

The COVID-19 vaccine has been developed and manufactured in Hyderabad-based bio-containment facility.

Earlier, this month, India's drugs regulator DCGI approved the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and indigenously-developed Covaxin, for restricted emergency use in the country.

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