An expert committee of the Central drug authority on Wednesday gave its approval for upgrading the status Covaxin and Covishield vaccines for wider prescription-based use, a year after the vaccines were cleared for “emergency” use against COVID-19.

The step would make it easier for people to get a booster shot of the vaccines as they are expected to be widely available soon at hospitals and clinics registered with the government portal CoWIN.

"SEC (Subject Expert Committee) of CDSCO has recommended for the upgrade of Covishield and Covaxin status from restricted use in emergency situations to grant of new drug permission with conditions in the adult population, DCGI will evaluate the recommendations and give its decision," the regulatory body tweeted.

Precautionary third doses of vaccines — announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month — are now being given to health and frontline workers and adults above 60 years of age with co-morbidities such as diabetes and blood pressure. The recommended period, however, between the second and the third dose is currently nine months.

Wednesday's recommendation by the expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has been sent to the top drug regulator DCGI for final clearance in accordance with government procedure.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India which manufactures Covishield  had urged the government to give market approval for its vaccine as over one billion doses of the vaccine have been given worldwide and it has proven to be safe. Covishield accounts for close to 90 per cent of vaccinations in India.

Hyderbad-based Bharat Biotech too had sought a similar prescription-based nod for Covaxin.