Covovax is likely to be available on the portal in a few days at a price of Rs 225 per dose plus applicable GST.
According to respective company sources, Biological E is holding 200 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax while Bharat Biotech is sitting on a stockpile of 50 million doses of Covaxin.
The vaccine would not have production scalability issues unlike Covaxin, Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 virus vaccine.
As of now, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals has launched a vaccine, Gemcovac-OM, which is based on the Omicron variant.
It has been approved by the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorisation.
Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech have also stopped producing the Covishield and Covaxin vaccines respectively.
The DCGI's approval came following recommendation by the Subject Expert Committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.
'We seem to be in a situation where we can do little, and nothing needs to be done anyway.'
Neutralising antibody levels waned after six months in those who were fully vaccinated against the coronavirus with Covishield, Covaxin and a mix of both.
The technical advisory group will now meet on November 3 for a final assessment.
There is no association between the Covid-19 vaccines used in India -- Covishield and Covaxin -- and increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to an observational study which emphasises the protective effect of the jabs.
An intranasal vaccine as a booster dose would be easier to administer in mass vaccination campaigns and has the potential to prevent transmission.
Dr Malhotra, who has demanded a full safety review into the use of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, told PTI Covishield "should never have been rolled out in the country in the first place".
The Vaccine War leans towards stoking nationalistic fervour, but that shouldn't stop you from watching a film that is solemn about the Indian scientific community's achievement, notes Mayur Sanap.
While Covishield supplies would meet the target of 500 mn doses between August and December, it looks like Covaxin would miss the target of 400 mn unless the partner sites of Bharat Biotech ramp up very rapidly, reports Sohini Das.
'Someone may have diabetes, but at what level the disease qualifies as a comorbid condition is something a doctor will decide upon and certify accordingly.'
"We suspended the deal as a simple preventive measure, since there are complaints that could not be explained well by the complainant, so we opened a preliminary investigation last week," said Rosario, head of the Federal Comptroller General.
Covishield comprises over 90 pc of 12.76 cr COVID vaccines administered so far
The Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) on Thursday recommended reducing the gap between the second and precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the current nine to six months, official sources said.
The Hyderabad-based firm completed clinical trials of the nasal vaccine with about 4,000 volunteers and there is no side effect or adverse reaction reported so far, company sources had said.
The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on December 27.
Sources indicated that there were no fresh orders from the Government of India, and their supply commitments have ended as of March 31, reports Sohini Das.
BE's Corbevax is the first such vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster in the country.
iNCOVACC is the world's first intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 to receive approval for the primary two-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose.
Experts, however, feel that given the intensity of the second wave and the high single dose coverage, India is in a good position to avoid any drastic wave in the near future.
Bharat Biotech's Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella's tweet saying 50 of their employees tested positive for COVID-19 received bouquets and brickbats from netizens, with some saying Covaxin was saving lives while a few questioned as to why the staff were not vaccinated.
Activist Raman Sharma had filed a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, seeking to know from the government the number of people who had received the first dose of vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin -- but did not take the second within the stipulated time period.
The Centre has shared a set of parameters with all states and UTs to enable service providers and monitoring teams under the national COVID-19 vaccination programme to identify any fake COVID-19 vaccines so that they are not administered in the country.
Covaxin is being developed by Bharat Biotech jointly with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)- National Institute of Virology (NIV). The Phase III human clinical trials of Covaxin began mid-November, targeted to be done in 26,000 volunteers and it is the country's first and only Phase III efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, a press release from the vaccine maker said on Saturday night.
This follows a widespread criticism of its pricing policy as it sold Covaxin to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.
Several states and UTs including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Telangana have decided to opt for global tenders for procurement of anti-coronavirus shots with the domestic supply falling short to meet the rising demand.
The fact sheet also asked people to inform the vaccinator or a supervising official about their medical condition before taking the vaccine.
Presumably, the Ronaldo backdrop is meant to be an inspirational motif for teenagers, many of who worship the Manchester United star's remarkable skills.
The Centre's vaccination scheme has created two classes of citizens in India -- those who got Covaxin, whose movements are restricted, and those who received Covishield and can go anywhere -- the Kerala high court said on Tuesday.
In a statement Bharat Biotech clarified that the vaccine's efficacy can only be determined 14 days after the second dose.
'We are trying to salvage 50-100 million doses of Covishield with the latest drive on booster doses.'
Zydus Cadila has agreed to bring down the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to Rs 265 a dose following persistent negotiations by the government but a final deal is yet to be reached, sources said on Sunday.
'Almost 70 per cent production time of a vaccine is dedicated to quality control, which is done through several hundred tests.'
While Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is in trials among children already, Serum Institute of India will begin Novavax vaccine trials on children from July, whereas the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for adolescents in the United States; and Cadila Healthcare's ZyCoV-D has done trials on 12 year-olds and above already, reports Sohini Das.
Bharat Biotech recruited 13,000 participants for the Phase-3 clinical trial of Covaxin. This is one of the largest efficacy trials held in the country.
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