After rounds of negotiations, the Union government and Zydus Cadila have finalised the price of its three-dose COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D, Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said on October 26. The rollout of ZyCov-D is expected to begin soon for everyone above the age of 12.
"The pricing of the ZyCoV-D vaccine has been finalised. The manufacturers had started production immediately after getting emergency use authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)," Mandaviya said, as quoted by Economic Times.
Asked when the vaccine will be introduced in the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive, the health minister said, "immediately".
Read | Over 103 crore vaccine doses administered in India so far, says govt
Despite hard negotiations, the Zydus Cadila vaccine is expected to be priced higher than Covishield and Covaxin, but lower than what makers had quoted earlier, as per the ET report.
The pharma company had reportedly proposed a price of Rs 1,900 for its three-dose jab that can be given to those above 12 years of age.
The vaccine is delivered through a needle-free applicator called the PharmaJet to ensure painless intradermal vaccine delivery.
The vaccine demonstrated a 66.6 percent efficacy against symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases in the interim analysis.
Also read: US FDA advisers weigh Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in children
The vaccine ZyCoV-D received Emergency Use Authorisation from the drug regulator on August 20, making it the first vaccine to be administered in the age group of 12 to 18 besides adults.
In addition to ZyCoV-D, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has also got a nod from DGCI's expert panel for children in the 2-18 age group.
Vaccines Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are being given to only those above 18 years of age and unlike ZyCoV-D, these are two-dose vaccines.
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