Nasal vaccine to be available at government centres in Delhi by mid-February

Senior officials of the Delhi government stated on Friday that the first nasal vaccination for Covid-19 in India, iNCOVACC, which was formally launched on Thursday, is likely to be made available at government centres in Delhi by mid-February. However, the availability of the vaccine in private facilities will be based on the bookings made by each hospital.

“We will start procuring stocks. After February 15, the nasal vaccines are expected to be administered in our centres,” a government official said according to a Hindustan Times report.

On the occasion of Republic Day on Thursday, Mansukh Mandaviya, the union minister of health, and Jitendra Singh, the minister of science and technology, launched Bharat Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine, iNCOVACC.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) granted its approval for the nasal vaccine in December. Later that month, India’s technical expert committee on immunisation, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), also recommended it be included as one of the “precautionary dose” adults can take as boosters.

INCOVACC is priced at Rs 325 per dose for large-volume procurement by state governments and the Government of India.
The company, in a statement, said the vaccine is now available on CoWIN, and priced at Rs 800 for private markets and Rs 325 for supplies to the central and state governments. In India, the use of the vaccine has approved as a primary series vaccine and a heterologous booster. In Delhi the coverage of the two primary doses is over 97%, the availability of the nasal variant is intended to increase booster coverage.

Developed by Bharat Biotech, iNCOVACC is the world's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary two-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose for adults.

(with inputs from PTI)