WHO approves emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine developed by India

The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the emergency use of the 'nasal vaccine', a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech, India.

The WHO Technical Advisory Group said, "As a result of reviewing data on quality, safety, and efficacy, the expected efficacy outweighs the risk," and judged that "it can be used worldwide."

The Expert Strategic Advisory Group, an immune advisory group, also recommended that the nasal vaccine be used for all age groups 18 years of age and older, saying that the nasal vaccine showed 78% efficacy against severe COVID-19.

The Expert Strategic Advisory Group also recommended that the nasal vaccine should be administered twice, with an interval of 4 weeks.

The WHO said that nasal vaccines are relatively easy to store, making them very suitable for low- and middle-income countries.

The COVID-19 vaccines approved by the WHO for emergency use are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Janssen, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, as well as Chinese pharmaceutical companies Sinopharm and Sinovac.

(Photo = Getty Images Korea)