Zydus Cadila's Covid vaccine for children aged 12 to 18 to be available soon: Centre

New Delhi, July 16: Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 12-18 years is expected to be available soon, the central government told Delhi High Court on Friday.

It is submitted that Zydus Cadila which is developing a DNA vaccine has successfully concluded its clinical trial for the 12-18 age group. The DNA vaccine is "subject to the statutory permissions, the same may be available in the near future for children of the 12-18 age group, the Centre said in an affidavit submitted in the court.

The ZyCoV-D vaccine would also be the world's first DNA vaccine against coronavirus and the fourth to become available in the country.

The company had last week submitted an application to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), seeking authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine.

The DNA-Plasmid based ZyCoV-D will be a three-dose vaccine. It is an intradermal vaccine, applied using a 'needle-free injector'. The company claims the needle-free system can lead to a significant reduction in side effects.

ZyCoV-D can be stored at two to four degrees Celsius and does not require cold chains, making transportation to the remotest parts of the country easy.

The vaccine candidate has been supported by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) under the aegis of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a PSU under the Department of Biotechnology.