As the Covid-19 cases continue to increase, the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is said to have approved the decision of bringing in Serum Institute’s Covovax on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dose for adults.
Covovax is expected to be available on the portal within a few days for Rs 225 per dose with relevant GST.
The action follows a letter sent to the Union Health Ministry on March 27 by Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of the Serum Institute of India (SII), PTI quoted sources as saying.
Singh had highlighted in his letter to the ministry that Covovax is a world-class vaccination that has been licenced by the DCGI, WHO, and the USFDA, and that it should be included on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dosage for adults.
Covovax can be given to people who have already received Covishield or Covaxin vaccinations.
Last month, the COVID-19 Working Group, led by Dr N K Arora, suggested to the Health Ministry that the vaccine be included on the site as a heterologous booster dosage for people who have had two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin.
On January 16, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) authorised the market authorization for Covovax for patients who had received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin. Covovax has also been approved by the WHO and the USFDA.
The DCGI had approved Covovax for limited use in emergency cases in adults on December 28, 2021, children aged 7 to 11 years on March 9, 2022, and children aged 7 to 11 years on June 28, 2022, subject to specified criteria.
Covovax is made possible by a technology transfer from Novavax. The European Medicines Agency has granted it conditional marketing permission.
Meanwhile, India saw around 5,880 new cases in the last 24 hours and the positivity rate is set to touch 7 per cent. While the daily positivity rate is 6.91 per cent as of Monday, the weekly positivity rate stood at 3.67 per cent, the Health Ministry data said.
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