Moderna vaccinePharma major, Cipla has filed an application with DCGI to import and marketing authorization for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine in India. The application was submitted to DCGI on June 28th and the DGCI has given nod to import the vaccine for restricted emergency use in India.

India so far has approved three vaccines for emergency use – Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik V. Moderna’s vaccine relies on messenger RNA (mRNA) to program cells to generate immunity to the coronavirus. The vaccine has shown more than 90 percent efficacy in clinical trials in protecting against COVID-19.

This move will be a boost to India’s efforts to vaccinate as many people as possible before the onset of the third wave. Cipla is already working on the logistics such as distribution and storage of imported vaccines. It is expected to announce the plans to officially launch the vaccine very soon.

Moderna vaccine is one of the widely used vaccines in the United States.