WHO approves ninth COVID vaccine

The World HEALTH Organization (WHO) has recommended for emergency use the Covovax CORONAVIRUS vaccine, which is produced in India under license from the American company Novavax, the organization said in a statement.

“Today, the World Health Organization released the Emergency Use List (EUL) for NVX-CoV2373, expanding the list of WHO-approved vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The vaccine, called CovovaxTM, is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under license from Novavax and is part of the COVAX portfolio of funds, providing a much-needed boost to ongoing efforts to vaccinate more people in low-income countries,” the statement said.

As WHO Assistant Director-General Mariangela Simao said, “Even with the emergence of new variants of the coronavirus, vaccines remain one of the most effective tools to protect people from the serious SARS-CoV-2 virus and death.” She explained that the inclusion of Covovax on the list of recommended emergency use "is aimed at increasing access [to vaccination], in particular in low-income countries." Simao recalled that 41 of these countries "still have not been able to vaccinate 10% of their population, and 98 countries have not yet reached 40%."

WHO experts concluded that Covovax "meets the organization's standards for protection against covid-19." The WHO also recalled that the original Novavax vaccine is currently being evaluated by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and after the completion of the procedure, it will also be evaluated by WHO.