The first covid vaccine for 12 to 18 age group in India is DGCI Approval for ZyCoV-D

Six vaccinations have now been approved in India. Two of them, made by AstraZeneca Plc and one by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Ltd, are already being utilized in the government’s nationwide vaccination campaign. Sputnik V, a Russian satellite, has been launched in modest numbers, and Johnson & Johnson and Moderna Inc are discussing a legal indemnification agreement. The only two vaccine candidates studied among children in India are Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D. They’re also the only ones that were created in-house.

Facts about ZyCoV-D

• ZyCoV-D is an intradermal vaccine, which will be administered in three doses. 
• It will be applied using The PharmaJet needle-free system, Tropis, which can also lead to a significant reduction in any kind of side effects.
• ZyCoV-D is stored at 2-8 degrees C but has shown good stability at temperatures of 25 degrees C for at least three months. The thermostability of the vaccine will help in easy transportation and storage of the vaccine and reduce any cold chain breakdown challenges leading to vaccine wastage. 
• The plasmid DNA platform provides ease of manufacturing with minimal biosafety requirements (BSL-1).
• Also being a Plasmid DNA vaccine, ZyCoV-D doesn’t have any problem associated with vector-based immunity.
• The Plasmid DNA platform also allows generating new constructs quickly to deal with mutations in the virus, such as those already occurring.
• The results of the Phase I part of the Phase I/II clinical trial have already been published in the EClinical Medicine Journal of Lancet.