The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday has given emergency use validation for the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, opening the door for countries to facilitate their regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine. Many countries rely on their regulatory systems for vaccine approvals, there are some countries with a weak system that depends on WHO's nod to a great extent for rolling out their national vaccination programmes.
The WHO's approval also enables Unicef and the Pan-American Health Organization to obtain the vaccine for distribution to poorer countries, the UN health agency said on Thursday.
Several countries including the US and the UK have already approved Pfizer-BioNTech Coronavirus vaccine.
This is the first time WHO has granted emergency validation to a Covid-19 vaccine since the outbreak began a year ago.
"This is a very positive step towards ensuring global access to Covid-19 vaccines. But I want to emphasise the need for an even greater global effort to achieve enough vaccine supply to meet the needs of priority populations everywhere," Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products, said in a statement.
Pfizer vaccine requires storage using an ultra-cold chain and needs to be stored at minus 60 degrees C to minus 90 degrees C which makes it challenging to deploy in places where ultra-cold chain equipment may not be available or reliably accessible. Thus, the WHO is also working to assist nations in assessing their delivery plans and preparing for use where possible.
"WHO and our partners are working night and day to evaluate other vaccines that have reached safety and efficacy standards. We encourage even more developers to come forward for review and assessment."
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Regulatory experts convened by WHO from around the world and WHO's own teams reviewed the data on the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine's safety, efficacy and quality as part of a risk-versus-benefit analysis and have found that Pfizer vaccine has reached all the criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO and that the benefits of using the vaccine to address Covid-19 offset potential risks.
In India, PM Modi had instructed the chief ministers of all states and Union Territories to evaluate the coronavirus situation and directed them to start working on cold storage facilities for the covid-19 vaccine.