Amid COVID surge, India fast-tracks approval for foreign vaccines

India to approve all vaccines that have been given emergency nod by WHO or regulators in US, Europe, Britain or Japan.

India will fast-track emergency approvals for COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorised by Western countries and Japan, paving the way for possible imports of Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Novavax and Moderna shots. The move, which will drop the need for companies to do small, local safety trials for their vaccines before seeking emergency approval, came following the world’s biggest surge in cases in the country this month. Vaccines authorised by the World Health Organization or authorities in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom and Japan “may be granted emergency use approval in India, mandating the requirement of post-approval parallel bridging clinical trial,” the health ministry said in a statement.