Covaxin, a Covid-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Bharat Biotech offers
protection against mutant strains of coronavirus, Chairman and Managing Director of the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Krishna Ella said on Tuesday.
He also said the company has approached regulatory authorities seeking approval for emergency authorisation of the vaccine, that is being developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology, which is now undergoing phase 3 trials.
"It (coronavirus) is expected to undergo a lot of mutation and you can be rest assured that this vaccine will protect one against those (mutations) as well…You have these two components in the inactivated vaccine which will take care of those mutations," Ella said during a virtual programme organised by CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology.
He was replying to a query on the new strain of coronavirus that was detected in the United Kingdom recently.
Ella said mutation was not unexpected and the virus mutates on its own to be able to infect more number of people.
Six people who returned to India from the UK have tested positive for the new mutated strain of coronavirus, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
The presence of the new UK variant of the coronavirus has also been reported in Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.
