India to initially introduce ZyCoV-D vaccine in seven states

NEW DELHI: Pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D will initially be used in seven states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, which have been recommended to identify the districts with a high number of of beneficiaries who have not received a single dose of a Covid vaccine for its introduction.
Zydus Cadila will supply 1 crore doses of ZyCoV-D, the world's first Plasmid DNA Covid vaccine, to the Centre by this month.The Centre has already placed an initial order for one crore doses of the vaccine.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, who reviewed the status and progress of the "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign with the health secretaries and National Health Mission (NHM) directors of the states and Union territories through a video-conference on Thursday, advised the seven states to identify the districts with a high number of first dose left out for the introduction of ZyCoV-D, a statement issued by the health ministry said.
Earlier, the Centre had placed an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D at Rs 265 per dose and the needle-free applicator being offered at Rs 93 per dose, excluding GST.
ZyCov-D, which is the first Covid-19 vaccine to be cleared by India's drug regulator for those aged 12 years and above, will only be administered to adults in the seven states as of now, sources said.
The national training process for ZyCoV-D administration has been completed, the statement 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, it added.
ZyCoV-D has shown good stability at temperatures of around 25 degrees for at least three months.
The vaccine will be administered using a needle-free applicator called "PharmaJet", as opposed to the traditional syringes.
A needle-free applicator ensures painless intradermal vaccine delivery, which also leads to a significant reduction in any kind of major side-effects.
The three doses of ZyCoV-D are to be administered 28 days apart.
(With inputs from agencies)