New Delhi: The Indian government has approved the use of Bharat Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC to be included in the country’s vaccination programme as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age.
The Union Health Ministry said that those who have taken Covishield and Covaxin can take the nasal vaccine as a heterologous booster dose.
The vaccine will be available on the CoWIN app starting today.
The vaccine will be available in private hospitals and will be included in the Covid-19 vaccination programmes. The CoWIN platform will also be modified in this regard.
In heterologous boosting, a person is administered a different vaccine from the one that was used for the primary dose series.
In November, Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) announced that iNCOVACC (BBV154), has received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) under Restricted Use in Emergency Situation for ages 18 and above, in India, for heterologous booster doses.
iNCOVACC is a recombinant replication-deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilised SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.
The vaccine has been specifically formulated to allow intranasal delivery through nasal drops. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed to be cost-effective in low- and middle-income countries.
The vaccine was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated in preclinical studies for efficacy.
Product development and clinical trials were funded in part by the Government of India, through the Department of Biotechnology’s, COVID Suraksha Programme.
