Govt approves Bharat Biotech's intranasal vaccine, to be available on CO-WIN today
Govt approves Bharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine, to be available on CO-WIN
PremiumBharat Biotech's intranasal Covid vaccine has been approved by the Union Health Ministry, official sources have told news agency PTI.
As per sources, the needle-free vaccine will be available at private centres and will be added on the Co-WIN platform on Friday evening.
It will be inclusion in the Covid vaccination programme as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age, official sources said.
In November, the nasal vaccine - BBV154 had received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India 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.
All that you need to know about iNCOVACC
The iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized spike protein. This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phase I, II and III clinical trials with successful results.
This vaccine has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low and middle-income countries.
It was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in preclinical studies for efficacy.
Product development related to preclinical safety evaluation, large-scale manufacturing scale up, formulation and delivery device development, including human clinical trials were conducted by Bharat Biotech.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a virtual meeting with State health ministers on the Covid-19 situation and preparedness at 3 pm today, sources told news agency ANI.
On Thursday, PM Modi chaired a high-level meeting to review the status and preparedness of public health response to COVID-19 and emphasised the need for strengthened surveillance with a focus on genome sequencing and increased testing. This high-level review meeting came against the backdrop of a spike in COVID-19 cases in some countries, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
PM Modi assessed the COVID-19 situation in the country, the preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics and the status of the vaccination campaign in the country. He also assessed the emergence of new Covid-19 variants and their public health implications.
Over the last two days, Chief Ministers of many states around the country have conducted high-level meetings with Senior Officials regarding the preparedness for Covid19 in their states.
(With inputs from agencies)
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