ZyCov-D, India’s first COVID-19 vaccine for those above 12 years, gets DGCI nod

India’s drug regulator DGCI has approved Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila’s three-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use authorisation for in adults and children aged 12 years and above, bringing in the sixth vaccine

India’s drug regulator DGCI has approved Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila’s three-dose COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use authorisation for in adults and children aged 12 years and above, bringing in the sixth vaccine authorised for use in the country.

Zydus Cadila’s vaccine, developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology, is the second home-grown shot to get emergency authorisation in India after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

With the central drug regulator clearing the vaccine, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D is set to become the first Covid vaccine candidate developed on a plasmid DNA platform to be commercially introduced anywhere in the world.

The vaccine has been tested on 1,000 children above the age of 12 and had demonstrated a primary efficacy of 66.66 per cent in phase 3 clinical trials. It was the first Covid-19 vaccine in India to be tested in the adolescent population — those in the 12-18-year age group.

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