Covid-19: 10 crore doses of SII's Covovax approved for exports by govt lab, stock rolled out for teens

Covovax, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under licence from US firm Novavax, will be available at Rs 225 per dose, excluding taxes, at private healthcare facilities.

News18

May 05, 2022 / 21:36 IST

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The country’s apex laboratory has cleared more than 10 crore doses of Covovax, another Covid-19 vaccine by the Serum Institute of India, for exports even as India gears up to roll out the shots to inoculate teenagers, News18.com has learnt.

According to government data, the Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh has so far approved a little over 10 crore doses of Covovax for the purpose of exports as the vaccine was facing delay in approvals in India.

ALSO READ: SII's COVID-19 vaccine Covovax now available for 12-17 age group at private centres

While Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer of Pune-based vaccine maker SII, blamed the government for the delay in launch of his vaccine Covovax, he emphasised that it is the only vaccine manufactured in India that is also sold in Europe and has an efficacy of 90%.

The CDL is now expecting the arrival of new batches that can be used for the inoculation drive in India. "With the new approval, the company is likely to send the batches for domestic use soon. So far majority of batches cleared were for export purpose. However, the company can use the same stock for domestic use as well,” a government official told News18.com.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Covid-19: 10 crore doses of SII's Covovax approved for exports by govt lab, stock rolled out for teens

Covovax, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under licence from US firm Novavax, will be available at Rs 225 per dose, excluding taxes, at private healthcare facilities.

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Covid-19: 10 crore doses of SII's Covovax approved for exports by govt lab, stock rolled out for teens

Covovax, the Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under licence from US firm Novavax, will be available at Rs 225 per dose, excluding taxes, at private healthcare facilities.

Related stories

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