Zydus Cadila to launch COVID vaccine for 12+ in India from October

Drugmaker Cadila Healthcare is all set to roll out its COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D from next month, paving the way for the vaccination of adolescents above 12 years, Reuters reported quoting two sources privy to the matter.

ZyCoV-D, the world’s first DNA-based vaccine, was given the nod for emergency use by the Indian drug regulator last month.

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Reuters said, Cadila Healthcare, also known as Zydus Cadila will produce 10 million doses of the vaccine from October onwards.

The three-dose vaccine will be administered to the said age group using a needle-free injector known as the Pharma Jet to ensure a painless intradermal vaccine delivery. The doses have kept 28 days apart – the second dose will be administered on the 28^th day of the first dose while the third shot will be given on the 56^th day.

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has also said that the “plug-and-play” technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based, can be employed to keep a tab on the constant mutations seen in the virus.

The vaccine has been developed by Ahmedabad-based Zydus in collaboration with DBT and the Indian Counil of Medical Research. The vaccine showed an efficacy of 66 per cent in an interim study on over 28,000 volunteers that including a 1,000 volunteers in the 12-18 age group.

The vaccine is the sixth in India to get an emergency usage approval from the drug regulator after Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V, and vaccines by Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. It is the first to be approved for usage in children in India, which has already given 825.9 doses to its adults of a total population of 1.4 billion.

Earlier the Cadila Healthcare’s managing director Sharvil Patel had said that he would launch the vaccine within 45-60 days of the regulatory approval.

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The company, however, is yet to disclose the price of the vaccine, which is expected to be within the price range of the vaccines that are currently being administered in India.