A’Bad Pharma Firm Starts Supply of ‘Needle-Free’ ZyCoV-D to Centre
In India’s saturated COVID vaccine market, ZyCoV-D, a ‘needle-free’, three-dose, DNA-based vaccine, developed by Ahmedabad-based pharma company Zydus Cadila, seems to be the latest entrant.
It is specifically meant for those who have not yet received a single dose of any vaccine.
The pharma company, which started a supply of its vaccine to the Indian government on Wednesday, with an order of 10 million doses so far, has started supplying ZyCoV-D to seven states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Punjab and Jharkhand.
ZyCoV-D will soon be available in the open market and is to be priced at Rs 265, while the Rs 93 applicator (device for administering the vaccine) will have to be purchased separately. Thus, the total cost for the vaccine will be Rs 358.
ZyCoV-D is the first vaccine that has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for children over 12 years of age. The first corona vaccine for children aged 12 to 18 in the country was approved by DCGI in August 2021 for emergency use.
Three doses of ZyCoV-D will be administered at an interval of 28 days i.e. there will be an interval of 56 days between the first and third doses.
It will be administered using a disposable jet applicator or pharma jet injector instead of the usual vaccine syringes. Jet injectors are the most widely used in the United States, wherein a vaccine is injected into the skin at a high pressure. Jet injectors use pressure compressed gas or springs.
The Zydus vaccine has been tested on 28,000 volunteers. Based on the results of these tests, the company claims that the efficacy of this vaccine against COVID is 66.60%. The company plans to produce 10 to 12 crore vaccine doses annually.
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