Bharat Biotech’s intranasal vaccine has been approved for restricted use in people aged 18 and up, providing a significant boost to India’s fight against COVID-19. Bharat Biotech had previously submitted data from Phase 3 clinical trials of its intranasal vaccine to the drug regulator, seeking approval as a primary two-dose vaccine as well as a heterologous booster shot. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya revealed that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization had approved it. As a result, this is the first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to be approved anywhere in the world.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Twitter, ‘This step will help us fight the pandemic more effectively as a group. Under PM Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has used its science, R&D, and human resources to combat COVID-19. We will defeat COVID-19 using a science-based approach and Sabka Prayas’.
What is an intranasal vaccine?
BBV154 is an intranasal vaccine for COVID-19 based on a novel adenovirus vector that induces a broad immune response neutralising IgG, mucosal IgA, and T cell responses. Most importantly, it is effective in preventing coronavirus infection and transmission. Because this vaccine is non-invasive and needle-free, it eliminates injuries and infections, and it does not require trained healthcare workers to administer it. Last year, 400 and 650 people took part in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, respectively.
Bharat Biotech Chairman and Managing Director Dr.Krishna Ella told Republic TV about the intranasal vaccine: ‘With just one dose of nasal vaccine, you can stop the infection and thus the transmission chain, flattening the curve. It’s only about 4 drops, like Polio, 2 in one nostril and 2 in the other. Now, global organizations such as the WHO are beginning to see nasal vaccines as a viable second-generation vaccine option’.
Vaccination in India
The country’s vaccine campaign against COVID-19 began on January 16, 2021, with healthcare workers being the first to be immunized. This was extended to frontline workers on February 2, 2021, and those over 60 and over 45 with co-morbidities became eligible for vaccination on March 1, 2021. While everyone over the age of 45 could be vaccinated beginning April 1, 2021, all adults were added to the vaccination coverage category on May 1, 2021. On October 21, 2021, India completed the administration of one crore coronavirus vaccine doses, a significant accomplishment.
While vaccination of children aged 15 to 18 began on January 3, the vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers, as well as people over 60 with co-morbidities, began on January 10. Aside from Covishield and Covaxin, the Drugs Controller General of India has approved Sputnik V, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D, Corbevax, and Covovax. A total of 1,02,49,79,224 citizens have been immunised, with 94,38,23,973 receiving a second dose as well.
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