Zydus Cadila begins supply of its anti-Covid vaccine to Centre

ZyCoV-D, the anti-Covid vaccine developed by Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila, is all set to be included in the ongoing nationwide inoculation drive, as according to the company, it has started supplying the first batch of the vaccine to the Union government.

ZyCoV-D, which received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in August last year, is the only needle-free coronavirus vaccine in the world. It is also the world's first Plasmid DNA vaccine, and will be administered on days 0, 28 and 56.

It has been priced at Rs. 358 per dose ( Rs. 265 for individual dose plus Rs. 93 for the applicator through which it will be administered each time), which means that in all, a beneficiary will have to spend Rs. 1074 to be inoculated with ZyCoV-D. However, the final price is a significant reduction from the Rs. 1900 initially quoted by the developers.

The vaccine, which was cleared for the age group of 12 and above, was the first to be granted EUA for an age group below 18. Also, while the inoculation drive began on January 16 last year, teenagers aged 15-18 became eligible for vaccination only on January 3 this year.

For now, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech's twin-dose Covaxin is the only jab which is being used to vaccinate teenagers.

Covaxin and ZyCoV-D, in that order, are also India's first two indigenous vaccines against this viral illness.