THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said that Kerala intends to import the COVID vaccine which was approved by the World Health Organization. The CM said this when journalists pointed out that those going abroad for study and work would benefit from a WHO-approved vaccine such as Covishield.

Journalists questioned whether such priorities were being considered before importing vaccines. The Chief Minister said that the vaccines approved by the World Health Organization are being accepted all over the world and the government is checking which of them are available. He said that steps would be taken to import such available vaccines.

Covaxin, an Indian vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in partnership with ICMR, has not been included in the World Health Organization's Emergency Use List (EUL). In this case, there is concern that those who receive both doses of Covaxin will not be able to travel abroad.