Zydus
Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, received emergency-use authorisation from
the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Friday, making it the sixth
vaccine to be approved for use in India. The Zydus Cadila vaccine can be
administered to people 12 years and above, according to the Ministry of Science
and Technology.
ZyCov-D has
been indigenously built and is the world’s first DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19,
the Science and Technology Ministry said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
described the approval of the vaccine as a “momentous feat” and said “India is
fighting COVID-19 with full vigour. The approval of the world’s first DNA based
‘ZyCov-D’ vaccine is a testimony to the innovative zeal of India’s scientists.”
Zydus
Cadila is an Ahmedabad-based pharmaceutical company. It had applied for
emergency-use authorisation of ZyCov-D on July 1. ZyCov-D has been tested in
three phases. A total of 28,000 people participated in the trials.
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According
to data obtained from trials, the ZyCov-D vaccine is able to bring down
symptomatic cases of COVID-19 by nearly 67% compared to those who don’t get the
vaccine. According to Zydus Cadila managing director Dr Sharvil Patel, the
percentage is based on the 79 to 90 RT-PCR confirmed cases of COVID-19 from
those vaccinated in the phase 3 trials.
First
DNA vaccine
ZyCov-D is
the world’s first DNA-based vaccine against the coronavirus infection. This is
a “plasmid DNA” vaccine that uses a genetically-engineered, non-replicating
version of a type of DNA molecule called ‘plasmid’.
Three-dose
vaccine
Zydus
Cadila’s ZyCov-D will be administered in three doses as opposed to other
vaccines which are either two or one dose. Each dose can be taken at an
interval of 28 days. Two doses of the vaccine seem enough to ward off severe
symptoms of the vaccine while three doses should be able to keep even moderate
symptoms at bay.
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For
children
Unlike all
the other vaccines currently in use in India, ZyCoV-D can be given to children
above the age of 12. Trials of the vaccine were carried out among children aged
12 to 18 years and the vaccine was found effective
No
needle
ZyCov-D is not administered with a needle but
with a spring-powered device that delivers the shot as a narrow, precise stream
of fluid that penetrates the skin.
