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FROM YAHOO NEWS:

https://news.yahoo.com/covaxin-covishield-know-indias-covid-074404737.html

India’s Covaxin, the homegrown government-backed vaccine, has an efficacy rate of 81%, preliminary data from its phase 3 trial shows.

India’s regulators gave the vaccine an emergency approval in January while the third phase of the trial was still under way, sparking scepticism and questions from experts.

Bharat Biotech, the vaccine’s manufacturer, said the latest findings were “an important milestone in vaccine discovery, for science and our fight against coronavirus”.

“With today’s results from our phase 3 clinical trials, we have now reported data on our Covid-19 vaccine from phase 1, 2, and 3 trials involving around 27,000 participants,” the firm said.

[SNIP]

Bharat Biotech, a 24-year-old vaccine maker, has a portfolio of 16 vaccines and it exports to 123 countries.

Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine which means that it is made up of killed coronaviruses, making it safe to be injected into the body. Bharat Biotech used a sample of the coronavirus, isolated by India’s National Institute of Virology.

When administered, immune cells can still recognise the dead virus, prompting the immune system to make antibodies against the pandemic virus.

The two doses are given four weeks apart. The vaccine can be stored at 2C to 8C.

Bharat Biotech says it has a stockpile of 20 million doses of Covaxin, and is aiming to make 700 million doses out of its four facilities in two cities by the end of the year.