Washinton, December 31: As the US continues to register a record number of COVID-19 cases, American tennis legend Jimmy Connors has called on the Biden government and country's regulatory authority to recognise India's indigenously developed coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN for its vaccination programme.

Taking to Twitter, the tennis legend asked the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to "allow COVAXIN to get in the game". "You always talk about Pfizer- J&J- Moderna vaccines -- may be a nod to Covaxin - ocgn - an opportunity to have an option - a choice- allow COVAXIN to get in the game-- I'm no Dr.- but the others have had a chance- why not #COVAXIN," Connors tweeted.

Last month, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had granted approval for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Covaxin. The WHO said that the Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO, had determined that the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19. Travis Head Tests Positive for COVID-19, Mitchell Marsh, Nic Maddinson and Josh Inglis Join Team Australia Ahead of Fourth Ashes Test.

This appeal by the American tennis star comes as the US has been witnessing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases due to the emergence new coronavirus variant Omicron. On Tuesday, the US set a single-day record of new infections, with 441,278 COVID-19 cases.

Record number of cases has led to the cancellation of thousands of inbound and outbound flights. On Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration warned that US travellers can expect more flights to be cancelled as the Omicron variant continues to surge across the country.

(The above story is verified and authored by ANI staff, ANI is South Asia's leading multimedia news agency with over 100 bureaus in India, South Asia and across the globe. ANI brings the latest news on Politics and Current Affairs in India & around the World, Sports, Health, Fitness, Entertainment, & News. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)