The three-dose COVID-19 vaccine of Zydus Cadila called ZyCov-D will be initially introduced in seven Indian states to boost the vaccination drives of these areas, as per the latest announcement by the Union Health Ministry.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday directed the state authorities to identify all the districts which have a fairly low number of people jabbed with the COVID-19 vaccine till now. After this, it was announced that the vaccine will be introduced in seven Indian states first.
According to the Health Ministry, the seven states where Zydus Cadila’s ZydCoV-D vaccine will be introduced are Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The training process for administering the vaccine has also been completed.
The Health Ministry said, “The seven states have been asked to plan sessions based on the PharmaJet injector and identify vaccinators to be trained for using it for vaccination.” Further, the vaccine will only be administered to adults in these states, as reported by PTI.
The Drug Controller General of India had approved the Emergency Use Authorization of the indigenously developed ZyCoV-D vaccine. This vaccine by Zydus Cadila has become the first to be approved for those aged 12 and above in India.
The pharma firm, in an earlier statement, had said, “Zydus Cadila has received an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D, the world’s first Plasmid DNA Vaccine, to the Government of India at Rs 265 per dose and the needle-free applicator being offered at Rs 93 per dose, excluding GST.”
(With PTI inputs)
