COVAXIN, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, received emergency use authorisation from the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.

It was created by Bharat Biotech and joins a growing list of vaccines approved by the United Nations' World Health Organization to prevent the disease.

“The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around the world, has determined that the Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks and the vaccine can be used,” the WHO said in a statement.

In age groups 18 and higher, it was advised that the vaccination be given in two doses separated by four weeks.

However, the vaccination is not recommended for pregnant women due to a lack of data to "evaluate vaccine safety or efficacy in pregnancy."

The vaccine has a 78 percent efficacy against COVID-19 of any severity, according to the WHO, and is "particularly appropriate for low- and middle-income countries due to easy storage requirements."

Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, and Sinovac are among the other COVID-19 vaccines approved by the specialized UN body.