India approves first 2 COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use

AstraZeneca.
(Image credit: AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

India has approved the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca for emergency use, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters Saturday. Additionally, the government authorized the emergency use of a vaccine known as COVAXIN developed locally by Bharat Biotech and the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research.

They're the first coronavirus vaccine candidates to get the green light in India, launching a massive immunization campaign in the world's second most populous nation, which has recorded the second largest number of COVID-19 infections after the United States.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.