Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine has been approved by the Union Health Ministry as a booster dose for those aged 18 years and above and is likely to be introduced on the Co-WIN platform this evening.
Newsagency PTI reported that the needle-free vaccine will be available at private hospitals as of now. It is likely to be rolled out in the national Covid vaccination programme soon.
The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 --had received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 years as a heterologous booster dose.
"The vaccine branded as iNCOVACC is likely to be introduced on the Co-WIN platform Friday evening onwards. For now it will be available in private hospitals," an official source said.
iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results, the Hyderabad-based vaccine-maker had said in a statement.
The nasal vaccine BBV154 had received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 as a heterologous booster dose.
The approval for the vaccine comes amid a spurt in Covid cases in China and some other countries around the world.
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