New Delhi: The Drug Controller General of India has approved emergency use for ZyCoV-D, the Covid-19 vaccine by Zydus Cadila which is the world’s first DNA shot against the coronavirus.
The report states that this vaccine can be given to adults and children aged 12 years and above.
India aims to vaccinate all eligible adults by December. And the approval of ZyCoV-D comes as a boost to the vaccination program as India now plans to give the first shot to children below 18 years of age.
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In July, the makers of the vaccine said that it was effective against newer COVID variants, particularly the delta strains.
Pankaj R Patel, President, Cadila Healthcare Ltd, said, “This is a historic milestone with ZyCoV-D, a product of Indian innovation, becoming the world’s first DNA vaccine for human use and the world’s largest Supporting a massive vaccination campaign.” Statement.
The company said this is the first time that a technologically advanced vaccine has been successfully developed on a plasmid DNA platform for use in humans.
ZyCoV-D . 10 things to know about
- While most COVID vaccines require two doses or even a single dose, ZyCoV-D will be given in three doses – the first on day zero, the second on day 28 and the last on day 56.
- The company had earlier said that it also has a needle-free application system unlike conventional syringes.
- According to reports, ZyCoV-D uses a portion of the genetic material from the COVID virus “which gives instructions in the form of DNA or RNA to make specific proteins that the immune system recognizes” or reacts to.
- The vaccine was first tested in India in the adolescent population aged 12-18 years.
- Cadila Healthcare aims to manufacture 100 million to 120 million doses of ZyCoV-D annually.
- ZyCoV-D has been developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology.
- This is the second home shot to get emergency authorization in India, after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
- ZyCoV-D is the sixth vaccine authorized for use in India.
- While filing an application for emergency use authorization in July, the firm had said that the efficacy rate of ZyCoV-D was found to be 66.6% in a late trial of over 28,000 volunteers across the country.
- The company also plans to get approval for a two-dose dose of the vaccine.
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