After almost eight months of applying for the emergency use listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO), Indian pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been been granted approval for vaccination against COVID19.

Press Trust of India (PTI) stated today , on November 3, while citing its sources that the indigenous COVID19 vaccine has been included in the list of COVID19 vaccines recognised by the WHO.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had applied for WHO’s approval on April 16.

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So far, the WHO has approved six COVID19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Sinopharm, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin for emergency use.

WHO’s approval came a week after it had sought additional information and clarifications from Bharat Biotech. WHO had stated that it will meet again for a final assessment on November 3.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech also stated earlier in the day that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved the extension of shelf life of Covaxin up to 12 months from the date of manufacture.

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“The CDSCO has approved the extension of shelf life of Covaxin up to 12 months, from the date of manufacture. This approval of shelf life extension is based on the availability of additional stability data, which was submitted to CDSCO,” Bharat Biotech said in a tweet.