Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D, the first covid vaccine candidate for children received emergency use authorisation (EUA) in India. The three-dose vaccine can be administered to people aged 12 and above.
ZyCoV-D is a first of its kind DNA vaccine that produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 to elicit an immune response. It is an intradermal vaccine that has to be applied using a 'needle-free injector', which, the manufacturer says, will help in reducing side effects.
Here are five things you must know before administering a jab of Zydus Cadila’s three-dose vaccine.
- Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation tweeted today that ZyCoV-D showed a 66.6 per cent efficacy rate in a late-stage trial involving over 28,000 volunteers across the country. It must be stored at temperatures ranging from 2 to 8 degrees Centigrade.
- The vaccination is needle-free and will be given in three doses intradermally, the second and third being given on the 28th and 56th days after the first.
- The 3-dose vaccine, when injected, produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from disease as well as viral clearance. The plug-and-play technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus.
- Cadila Healthcare, a subsidiary of Zydus Cadila, developed the vaccine in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology. After Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, it is the second home-grown vaccine to receive emergency approval in India.
- ZyCoV-D, according to the manufacturer, is effective against the new coronavirus mutations, particularly the Delta strain. It intends to produce 100 million to 120 million doses each year and has begun stockpiling them.