Covid vaccine rollout may get delayed in India as expert panel takes cautious approach

New Delhi | Mumbai: The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of India’s drug regulator is unlikely to meet again this month as the vaccine makers are expected to take some weeks at least to submit the updated data sought from them, said government officials. This could have an impact on the timelines about the availability of Covid vaccine in the country.

“The ball is in the court of the companies (Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech). They have to furnish the data,” an official told ET.

“Since the trials are ongoing, we expect that they will take some time... at least a few weeks. We can take a call regarding the SEC meeting only after they submit the data,” the official said. He added that the committee would be cautious in its approach and not take decisions in haste.

The 10-member panel of experts did not clear the Covid-19 vaccine market applications of Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech at its meeting on Wednesday, and sought updated data from the companies.

In addition, the committee is expected to wait for the UK drug regulator’s approval of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University jab before giving its go-ahead to the SII shot. AstraZeneca has begun another trial for one dosage course and it is not clear whether the UK regulator will wait for the completion of this trial.

Bharat Biotech and SII did not respond to ET’s queries on when they planned to submit additional data to the panel.