Corbevax likely to be available at vaccination centres from tomorrow

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The recently approved heterologous Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the COWIN App in both public and private vaccination centres from Friday, manufacturer Biological E. Limited (BE) said.

Corbevax was approved as India's First Heterologous Covid-19 booster shot for 18 Years and above after the six months of administration of the primary vaccination doses of Covaxin or Covishield. People who have taken Covaxin or Covishield can be administrated a Corbevax booster shot in "emergency use authorisation".

The Union Health Ministry approved Corbevax for emergency use on the basis of a recently made recommendation by the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

"This approval came after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the vaccine for emergency use as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose for individuals aged 18 years on June 4, 2022," an official statement from the BE said.

It further added that the Corbevax had received emergency use authorization as a primary two-dose vaccination regimen in Adults, Adolescents and Children aged 5 years and above, in a series of approvals from December'21 to April'22.

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The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company (BE) has, so far, delivered 10 crore doses of Corbevax to the Centre.

"Pan-India roll-out of the booster shot vaccine in children aged between 12 to 14 years was initiated on March 16, 2022 and till now almost 7 crore doses have been administered and 2.9 crore children completed their two-dose vaccination regimen," it said.

According to the manufacturer company, the vaccine has undergone comprehensive booster trials on Indian subjects and subsequently received approval from the Indian regulatory authority.

BE's Corbevax is the first Indian vaccine to be approved as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose. It uses a traditional recombinant protein-based technology, which is also used for vaccines such as Hepatitis B.

The Corbevax heterologous booster-dose clinical trials demonstrated a significant boosting of humoral immune response measured in terms of neutralization antibody titres against the ancestral as well as the omicron strain, binding antibody titres as well as cellular immune response along with minimal adverse events that were mild in nature.

"Corbevax has become the first vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous Covid-19 booster. The approval by the Ministry of Health today is another important step in combating the pandemic. We are very pleased with this endorsement, which recognizes the safety and efficacy of our vaccine," said Mahima Datla, Managing Director, Biological E. Limited.

The price of Corbevax for private Covid-19 vaccination centres is Rs 250, inclusive of the Goods and Sales tax.

For the end-user, the price of the vaccine is Rs 400, including taxes and administrative charges. Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the CoWIN App in public and private vaccination centres from August 12, 2022.

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