The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted emergency use permission to single-dose Sputnik Light Covid vaccine in the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Sunday and said that the move will further strengthen the country’s fight against the pandemic.
This comes following recommendations of an expert panel of India’s central drug authority to grant restricted emergency use authorisation to Sputnik Light subject to various regulatory provisions.
With this addition, here’s a list of all the Covid-19 vaccines approved in India for use so far:
Sputnik-Light
Sputnik Light is the same as component-1 of Sputnik V. Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is the Indian partner of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which had sought approval from the drug regulator for use of single-dose Russia’s Sputnik Light one shot.
The firm presented that Sputnik Light vaccine is approved in 29 countries, including Russia and Argentina. The interim data of efficacy trial from Russia has shown 65.4 per cent efficacy, 21 days after immunization.
“After detailed deliberation, the SEC had recommended grant of permission for restricted use in emergency situation subject to various regulatory provisions including,” the source said.
The vaccine may be used as booster dose against Covid-19 for the eligible population groups, Moneycontrol quoted sources as saying.
Corbevax
The Centre on February 5 placed a purchase order with Biological E for five crore doses of Covid vaccine Corbevax, each costing Rs 145 excluding taxes, official sources said. The government is yet to decide on which segment of beneficiaries this new vaccine would be administered.
On December 28, 2021, India gave approval to two Covid-19 vaccines – Corbevax and Covovax and an anti-viral drug Molnupiravir for restricted emergency use.
“Corbevax vaccine is India’s 1st indigenously developed RBD protein sub-unit vaccine against Covid-19, Made by Hyderabad-based firm Biological-E,” Mandaviya had said in a tweet.
Covovax
Covovax, an American vaccine manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), also got approval along with Corbevax in December last year. Recently, the Central Drugs Laboratory has approved 3.15 crore doses of Covovax.
The vaccine was more than 90 per cent effective in a late-stage US-based clinical trial, according to the company.
ZyCov D
ZyCov D, India’s first needle-free and second indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, was recently launched in Bihar’s Patna. It is the world’s first DNA vaccine manufactured by Zydus Cadila.
The government last year placed an order for 10 million vaccine doses for the national anti-Covid immunisation programme. It’s a three-dose vaccine and it is to be administered intradermally using the painless PharmaJet needle-free system called Tropis on day 0, day 28, and day 56.
Zydus Cadila had said it plans to manufacture between 10-12 crore doses annually of its vaccine, It is the second indigenously made shot to receive regulatory nod in India after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
Covishield
The AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine ‘Covishield’ is locally manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
A weakened variant of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimps is used to create the vaccine. It has been altered to resemble coronavirus, despite the fact that it cannot cause illness.
When a patient receives the vaccination, it triggers the immune system to produce antibodies and prepares it to fight any coronavirus infection.
The vaccination is given in two doses, four to twelve weeks apart. It can be safely maintained at temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and simply supplied in existing health-care facilities such as doctors’ offices.
Covaxin
Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine, meaning it is made up of coronaviruses that have been killed, making it safe to inject into the body.
Bharat Biotech, a 24-year-old vaccine company that exports to 123 countries and has a portfolio of 16 vaccines, using a coronavirus sample isolated by India’s National Institute of Virology.
Immune cells can still recognise the dead virus after it has been injected, prompting the immune system to produce antibodies against the pandemic virus.
The two dosages are separated by 4 weeks. The vaccination can be kept at temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
Sputnik Vaccine
The vaccine, created by the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow, caused some controversy when it was first rolled out before the final study results were disclosed. However, scientists claim that its advantages have now been shown.
It employs a harmless cold-type virus as a carrier to deliver a small portion of the coronavirus to the body. The body begins to manufacture antibodies that are specifically adapted to the virus after being vaccinated.
It may be held at temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Celsius (a conventional fridge is around 3-5 degrees Celsius), making it more convenient to transport and store.
The Sputnik vaccine, unlike other similar vaccinations, employs two slightly different forms of the vaccine for the first and second doses, which are given 21 days apart.
They both aim for the coronavirus’s unique “spike,” but they use different vectors – neutralised viruses that carry the spike to the body.
The theory is that utilising two distinct formulae strengthens the immune system even more than using the same one twice, and may provide longer-term protection.
Of over 169 crore Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country so far, just about 12 lakh doses have been that of Sputnik V.
JOHNSON & JOHNSON’S SINGLE-DOSE VACCINE
Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine has been given Emergency Use approval in India, Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Saturday. He said this will further boost the country’s collective fight against the novel coronavirus infection.
“India expands its vaccine basket! Johnson and Johnson’s single-dose Covid-19 vaccine is given approval for Emergency Use in India. Now India has five EUA vaccines. This will further boost our nation’s collective fight against #COVID19,” the minister tweeted. The US-based pharmaceutical company had applied for Emergency Use Authorisation for its jab on Friday and was granted the approval the same day by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), a senior official said.
J&J earlier had sought approval to conduct phase-3 clinical trial of its vaccine on approximately 600 participants in two age groups—those aged 18 and below 60 years and those aged 60 years and above—to evaluate the safety, reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the jab in healthy Indian adults.
However, on July 29, the firm withdrew its proposal. A health ministry official at a recent press conference had clarified that J&J earlier applied for conducting phase-3 clinical trial of its vaccine.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment