NEW DELHI, Jan 26: India's new intranasal covid vaccine was launched on Thursday.
Developed by Bharat Biotech, the vaccine is called iNCOVACC.
The vaccine is priced at Rs 325 (plus GST) a dose for the Government and Rs
800 (plus GST) for private hospitals, at procurement. Union Health Minister
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh launched
the vaccine.
Two doses of the vaccine are to be given with a gap of 28 days apart. It will
be administered as a heterologous booster to those above the age of 18 years
and will not be given to those who have already taken a precautionary or booster
dose.
For availing the immunisation, one need to book an appointment at the CoWin
website.
The recombinant adenoviral vectored vaccine was developed by Bharat Biotech
in partnership with the Washington University of Medicine at St Louis. Bharat
Biotech had conducted the human clinical trials of iNCOVACC and got the approvals
in December last.
The development and clinical trials were funded in part by the Government of
India through the Department of Biotechnology's Covid Suraksha programme.
iNCOVACC will be a global game changer in intranasal vaccine technology, according
to Krishna Ella, Managing Director and Chairman of Hyderabad- based Bharat Biotech.
