Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to be initially introduced in THESE seven states

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan directed these states to identify the districts with a high number of beneficiaries who have not taken even the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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New Delhi: Zydus Cadila's three-dose COVID vaccine ZyCoV-D will initially be introduced in seven states, including Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. 

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday (December 2) asked these states to identify the districts with a high number of beneficiaries who have not taken even the first dose of the vaccine, PTI cited a statement by the health ministry as saying. 

These seven states include Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The national training process for ZyCoV-D administration has been completed, the health ministry statement added. “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,” the ministry informed. 

ZyCov-D will only be administered to adults in these seven states as of now, sources told the news agency. 

Indigenously developed ZyCoV-D had received approval for Emergency Use Authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India in August this year. It is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be cleared by India's drug regulator for those aged 12 years and above. 

On November 8, drug firm Zydus Cadila had said it had received an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D to the Indian government at Rs 265 per dose.

"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," the pharma firm had earlier said. 

The ZyCoV-D vaccine will be administered using a needle-free applicator called "PharmaJet". It is the world's first DNA-based vaccine against the coronavirus, and this three-dose vaccine when injected produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. 

(With PTI inputs)