India's 1st COVID-19 nasal vaccine to be rolled out next month

NEW DELHI, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- India's vaccine maker Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) announced the price of newly-developed COVID-19 nasal vaccine iNCOVACC on Tuesday, saying the vaccine would be rolled out from the fourth week of January 2023.

The vaccine would be made available on CoWin, an Indian government's web portal for COVID-19 vaccination registration. Owned and operated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, it displays booking slots of COVID-19 vaccine available in nearby areas.

The nasal vaccine is being described as a booster dose for those aged above 18 years and already receiving two doses of vaccines. "As a needleless vaccination, iNCOVACC will be India's first such booster dose," the company said.

BBIL had earlier developed a vaccine named COVAXIN, doses (two per individual) of which were widely administered to Indians and other countries' nationals staying in the country.

The company said the intranasal vaccine would be priced at 325 Indian rupees (3.92 U.S. dollars) at the government-run hospitals or clinics, but at a price tag of 800 Indian rupees (9.65 U.S. dollars) at private hospitals or clinics.

This vaccine candidate was evaluated in phases I, II and III clinical trials with successful results, it said.

Earlier this month, BBIL received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for the use of heterologous booster doses of the nasal vaccine.

Official data showed Tuesday morning that 157 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours in India.