The Centre has given the go-ahead for the Maharashtra government-owned Haffkine Institute to manufacture Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, on a transfer of technology basis. The decision is part of the strategy to step up the availability of vaccines in the country.
The Maharashtra government made the announcement regarding the approval through their official Twitter handle.
"The Dept of Science and Technology, Government of India, has granted approval to Haffkine Institute to produce Bharat Biotech''s Covaxin vaccine on a transfer of technology basis," the Maharashtra Chief Minister's Office tweeted.
"CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has thanked Prime Minister for approving this request," it said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had earlier requested the centre to allow the Haffkine Institute to produce Covaxin.
Covaxin is an indigenous Cvoid-19 vaccine developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Hyderabad-based private pharma company Bharat Biotech.
With over 26.02 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses administered till 8 pm on Thursday, the cumulative doses against the coronavirus administered in the country have crossed 11.74 crores.
Maharashtra is the worst-hit state in the country with 61,695 new COVID-19 cases and 349 deaths in the last 24 hours.
According to figures released by the Maharashtra health department, the total number of positive cases in the state now stands at 36,39,855, including 29,59,056 recoveries and 59,153 deaths.
