New Delhi: Locally developed Zydus Cadila Jab Zycov-D which was developed locally secured regulatory approval on Friday for emergency use, becoming the first DNA-based vaccine in the world for Covid-19 to be given to children and adults aged 12 years to the top.
The company has indicated initial visibility to supply around 5 doses of crore in December, a senior official said.
While the government has not signed a final agreement with Cadila, inventory for national programs is likely to begin at the end of September, he added.
Approval assumes significance because it will not only help the government increase vaccination but also play an important role in immunizing children between the ages of 12-18 years as so inventory rises ahead.
DNA-based vaccines are the sixth jab against SARS-COV2 to obtain authorization of emergency use in India.
So far, Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V is available in India, while the vaccine developed by Modera and J & J has also been approved by emergency authorization.
Until 9pm on Friday, a total of more than 57.48 doses of crore from Jab Anti-Covid had been given throughout the country.
The three-dose vaccine, which was developed in partnership with the Biotechnology Department, has been approved by the dose cycle where the second and third shots of Jab will be given intervals 28 days and 56 days from the first dose.
The temporary results of Zycov-D from the clinical test of phase-3, at more than 28,000 volunteers, showed primary efficacy of 66.6% for positive cases of RT-PCR symptoms.
This has been the biggest vaccine trial so far in India for Covid-19.
The Ahmedabad company has also conducted a phase 2 study for two vaccine doses but not yet valid for phase 3.