The Union government is expecting Zydus Cadila’s needle-free Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D to be available from the first week of October. Further, a decision on whether all children or only those with co-morbidities will be administered the Covid-19 vaccine on priority has not yet been taken, the government said on Thursday.
Indigenously developed Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D on Friday received approval for Emergency Use Authorisation from the drug regulator, making it the first vaccine in the country which would be administered in the age group of 12-18 years. On the kind of negotiations in terms of pricing and when the government plans to procure ZyCoV-D, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “Coming to negotiations, what we have understood from media reports as well as our own engagement with the vaccine manufacturing company is that they would be in a position to make available this vaccine from the first week of October.”
