Astrazeneca jab listed for emergency use

The World Health Organization on Monday listed Astrazeneca and Oxford university’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, widening access to the relatively inexpensive shot in the developing world.

“We now have all the pieces in place for the rapid distribution of vaccines. but we still need to scale up production,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general, told a news briefing.

The WHO’S review found that the Astrazeneca vaccine met the “must-have” criteria for safety, and its efficacy benefits outweighed its risks.