Bharat Biotech: Covaxin's Shelf Life Extended To 12 Months

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved the extension of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin's shelf life up to 12 months from the date of manufacture, the vaccine-maker said. “This approval of shelf life extension is based on the availability of additional stability data, which was submitted to CDSCO. With the shelf life extension, hospitals can now utilise the stock to avoid vaccine wastage, a press release said.

Covaxin is approved for use under the 28-day multi-dose vial policy from Drug Controller General of India and the WHO Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL). Covaxin Open Vial is stable at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for 28 days and not required to be discarded immediately in a day or at the end of immunisation session.

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Travellers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with Covaxin can now enter the Saudi Arabia from now on. This was officially stated by the Indian Embassy office on Tuesday, that the Saudi government has accepted the Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin dose.

The embassy of India in Saudi Arabia took to Twitter and wrote, “Embassy is pleased to inform that Indian nationals vaccinated with ‘Covaxin’ are now approved to enter the Kingdom. Vaccine certificates are to be uploaded to the Ministry of Health website for residents and at Muqeem website for visitors.

Embassy is pleased to inform that Indian nationals vaccinated with 'Covaxin' are now approved to enter the Kingdom. Vaccine certificates are to be uploaded at https://t.co/6HfYIyq7K1 for residents and at https://t.co/WeJ3Kc9GX9 for visitors.@SaudiMOH @MEAIndia

— India in Saudi Arabia (@IndianEmbRiyadh) December 20, 2021

So far Saudi Arabia has approved vaccines like Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca,  Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm,  Sinovac and Covaxin.