Uproar after India's Covid-19 vaccine is approved before clinical trials end

India's indigenously produced Covid-19 vaccine is at the centre of a controversy after it was licensed with clinical trials for effectiveness still incomplete. Covaxin was granted emergency approval on Sunday (Jan 3) by the Indian drug regulator. Also getting the nod was AstraZeneca-Oxford University's Covishield, to be made in India by Serum Institute, the world's largest vaccine producer by volume. The decision to approve Covaxin, developed and manufactured by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, triggered a row. The Indian health minister said it was granted permission for 'restricted use in emergency situations' in the 'larger public interest'.