WHO identifies counterfeit versions of Covishield in India
Darpan News Desk IANS, 18 Aug, 2021 08:25 PM
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said it has identified counterfeit versions of India's primary Covid vaccine, Covishield, BBC reported.
The doses were seized by authorities in India and Africa between July and August, a WHO statement said.
It also said the vaccine's maker, the Serum Institute of India, confirmed that the doses were fake.
The WHO warned that fake vaccines "pose a serious risk to global public health".
It called for their removal from circulation.
Covishield is the Indian-made version of AstraZeneca's jab and is the most widely used vaccine in India with more than 486 million doses administered so far.
Serum had supplied millions of Covishield vaccines to countries in Asia, Africa and South America - as part of deals that were inked with various governments and the global Covax scheme for poorer countries.
India, which is the second worst-affected country in the world, aims to vaccinate all its people by the end of this year.
About 13 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated since the beginning of the drive in January.
The electronic conversation took place as US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that India will receive Covid vaccines directly from the US stockpile, the White House said.
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), General M.M. Naravane, reached Kashmir on Wednesday on a two-day visit to review the prevailing security situation in the Union Territory (UT), the army said in a statement.
"There have been several unfounded media reports that have peddled misinformation among the masses regarding this exercise of national importance," a ministry statement said, adding that the total number of Covid vaccine doses administered in the country so far stand at 21,85,46,667.
The Congress said that it was "appropriate for our initial statement to note that the intrusion by Israeli forces into the Holy Al Aqsa mosque during Ramzan prayers had ruptured the delicate peace in the region".
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday suggested the young patients should be prioritised in the distribution of Liposomal Amphotericin B drug, used for treating black fungus, "as they hold promise of future over the older ones who have lived their lives".
