Zydus Cadila COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D has received approval for Emergency Use Authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India, the Department of Biotechnology said in a statement on Friday, adding that the vaccine will be administered to people 12 years and above. 

With Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA), the Indigenously developed vaccine has also become the first to be administered to those in the age group of 12-18 years in the country. Vaccines Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are currently being given to only those above the age of 18. 

ZyCoV-D is the world’s first DNA-based vaccine against the coronavirus. When injected, it produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and elicits an immune response, which plays a vital role in protection from the disease as well as viral clearance.

Also Read: Children in India likely to to be vaccinated for COVID by September: ICMR

The “plug-and-play” technology on which the plasmid DNA platform is based can be easily adapted to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring, it said.

“Zydus Cadila has received approval for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D today i.e. 20/08/2021, the world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19 to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above,” the government department said.

ZyCoV-D is a needle-free vaccine administered using ‘PharmaJet’, an applicator that ensures painless intradermal vaccine delivery, Zydus Cadila has said.

Interim results from Phase-III clinical trials in over 28,000 volunteers, showed primary efficacy of 66.6% for symptomatic RT-PCR positive cases.

Till now, five COVID vaccines have been granted EUA– Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Russian vaccine Sputnik V, the vaccines of Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson. Of these, Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are in use in the country. ZyCoV-D will be the sixth to be added to the vaccine basket of the country.

Calling it a “momentous feat”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “India is fighting COVID-19 with full vigour. The approval for world’s first DNA based ‘ZyCov-D’ vaccine of @ZydusUniverse is a testimony to the innovative zeal of India’s scientists. It is a momentous feat indeed.”