The central government on Tuesday said it has fast-tracked emergency approvals for foreign-produced COVID-19 jabs, which have been granted similar clearances in other countries, to hasten the pace of vaccination in India, reported ANI. The move comes amid a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in the world’s second-most populous country.

Also read: COVID-19 pandemic at ‘critical point’ as cases rise exponentially: WHO

The first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before it is rolled out for further immunization programme within the country, PTI reported quoting the Union Health Ministry.

The Centre’s decision came after an expert panel recommended that COVID-19 vaccines which have been developed and are being manufactured in foreign countries with emergency use approvals, or which are listed in the WHO Emergency Use Listing, may be granted emergency use approval in India.

Notably, India’s drug regulator on Tuesday approved the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V, for emergency use. The country has recorded 1,36,89,453 cases of novel coronavirus since the pandemic began, including 1,61,736 new infections in the last 24 hours.

As per a report by ANI, India will soon approve four other foreign-produced vaccines by October this year. These include Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine, Novovax vaccine, Zydus Cadila’s vaccine and an intranasal vaccine by Bharat Biotech.

Currently, two vaccines — Covaxin by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) — are being used for inoculation in India.