Pfizer Inc has applied for emergency use authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India, media said on Sunday, the first to do so in a country with the world's second-highest number of infections.

This is the first such request received by the DGCI amid the race to find a vaccine for the deadly virus, which has affected over 96 lakh people in India.

Pfizer

The US company, whose vaccine was recently approved by the British government, has written to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). 

A government official told that no application had been received as of Saturday night. Indian officials have said they are pinning their hopes mainly on locally tested vaccines instead of those developed by Pfizer and Moderna Inc.

The Pfizer shot needs to be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius (-94 F) or below, temperatures that most Indian cold storages cannot reach. 

Here's a list of all COVID-19 vaccines being made in India.

Only a few vaccine candidates have received the approvals to perform vaccine trials and clinical testing.

  • Covaxin
  • Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D
  • Oxford - AstraZeneca Vaccine
  • Biological E
  • Mynvax
  • Gennova Biopharmaceuticals

India has reported more 9.57 million COVID-19 cases, behind only the United States, with nearly 140,000 deaths.

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