The government of India has ordered one crore Zydus Cadila vaccine shots at ₹ 265 per dose. It is a three-dose COVID-19 vaccine.
According to a report by Mint, the vaccine will be administered using a needle-free applicator as opposed to traditional syringes.
"PharmaJet" - the applicator - will be sold at ₹93 per dose, excluding GST.
Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D is an indigenously developed plasmid DNA vaccine which has received the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approval on 20 August 2021.
The DCGI had granted ZyCoV-D emergency approval in adults and children aged 12 years and above.
The order comes days after Prime Minister Modi urged health officials to expand door-to-door COVID-19 vaccination.
"We are happy to support the Government’s vaccination programme with ZyCoV-D. The needle-free application of the vaccination, we hope, will motivate many more to vaccinate and safeguard themselves from COVID-19, especially children and young adults in the age group of 12 to 18 years," said Sharvil Patel, the Managing Director of the firm, NDTV reported.
The three doses of the vaccine are to be administered with a gap of 28 days, with each dose constituting a 'shot' in both arms of the individual.
With this order, India's national immunisation programme will be rolling out four COVID-19 vaccines including SII’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and the Russian Sputnik vaccine.
(With inputs from Mint and NDTV.)
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