Closer To 100 Crore Shots: 60 Lakh Doses Of Zydus Cadilla's DNA-based Vaccine Ready For Distribution

A day after India’s Subject Expert Committee’s (SEC) recommendation for the use of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children between 2 and 18 years, the official sources reportedly said that 60 lakh doses of Zydus Cadila's three-dose Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D are ready for distribution following production.

Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D received emergency approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on 20 August. It's a plasmid DNA vaccine against Covid-19 that doesn't require needles.

Even though it was expected to be rolled out in early October, Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member (Health), recently clarified that "Zydus Cadila vaccine is not administered using a conventional syringe or a needle but through an applicator, which will be used for the first time in the country. We are working on the trainers and its logistic issues."

ZyCoV-D, which is also the world's first plasmid DNA vaccine for the coronavirus caused disease, will be given in three doses on day zero, day 28, and day 56.

Around 1.5 lakh doses of ZyCoV-D had previously passed quality control tests at the Central Drugs Laboratory in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh.

As per previous reports, Zydus Cadila has offered around Rs 300 for a single dose of its vaccine and the Center was negotiating the price of the ZyCov-D with the company. However, the cost of the pharmaJet, which is required to deliver the vaccination, is not included in this price.

As of now, the company or the government haven't revealed the exact cost of the vaccine.

Covid-19 Vaccine Capacity

ANI reported that according to government sources, India would have a vaccination capacity of 28 crore doses in October.

Serum Institute of India's Covishield would account for 22 crore doses, while Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will account for 6 crore, the report noted, adding that in September this year, India had obtained almost 26 crore doses.

The sources told the news agency: "India may also start commercial export of Covid-19 vaccine doses in the fourth quarter of the year after having enough number of doses for the country."

Around 18 October, the Centre hopes to have a total immunisation coverage of 100 crore doses. The government has previously stated that it would meet the deadline between October 10 and 12.

However, according to reports, the Union Health Ministry is now arranging events across the country to commemorate the day when India will hit the 100 crore mark.

Sources told ANI: "Once we hit 100 crore dose, we are planning celebration across the country with COVID warriors, frontline workers and healthcare workers."

To date, states and union territories have received over 97 crore Covid-19 vaccination doses and they still have more than 8 crore unused doses to distribute, a report said.

The Union Health Ministry said that more vaccines have been made available, states and UTs have been given advance notice of vaccine availability and the supply chain has been streamlined. According to the ministry, over 97 crore vaccine doses have been distributed to States/UTs through the Government of India (free of cost channel) and direct state procurement categories.