Union Health Minister on 26th January unveiled the iNNCOVACC COVID19 vaccine which is the world’s first intranasal COVID19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose.
About iNNCOVACC
It is developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance (BIRAC).
- iNCOVACC is a cost effective covid vaccine which does not require syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandage, etc, saving costs related to procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, that is routinely required for injectable vaccines.
- It utilizes a vector-based platform, which can be easily updated with emerging variants leading to large scale production, within a few months.
- These rapid response timelines combined with the ability of cost effective and easy intranasal delivery, makes it an ideal vaccine to address future infectious diseases.
- A rollout of iNCOVACC is expected to begin in private hospitals that have placed advance orders. Initial manufacturing capacity of several million doses per annum has been established, this can be scaled up to a billion doses as required.
- iNCOVACC is priced at INR 325/dose for large volume procurement by State Governments and Govt of India.
ZyCoV-D
- Health Minister stated that ZyCoV-D, the world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA based vaccine for Covid-19 to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above, was also developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology under ‘Mission Covid Suraksha’ through BIRAC.
