New Delhi: The world health organization (WHO) cleared the coronavirus vaccine of Pfizer-BioNTech for emergency use. Clearance for the covid-19 vaccine from the WHO may help the poor nations to start access of shots. The Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine is already available in Europe and North America.
Major countries have their own drug regulatory agency and vaccines are approved by that agency but there are many countries in the world who rely on WHO to vet the shots.
The global body on late Thursday said that “The decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine “opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.”
The health agency of the United Nations said that “Our review found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received clearance in the United States, Britain, the European Union and a dozen other countries, met the must-have criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO.”
Big hurdle for the developing countries is that temperature in some countries remain more than normal and the Vaccine of BioNTech and Pfizer has to be set stored at ultra-frozen temperature. Still there are some countries where freezers and reliable electricity supply may not be available.
“This requirement makes the vaccine more challenging to deploy in settings where ultra-cold chain equipment may not be available or reliably accessible,” WHO said, adding that it was “working to support countries in assessing their delivery plans and preparing for use where possible”.
The world reports more than 83 million coronavirus cases and around 1.8 million people lost their lives so far.
Vinayak