Price of New Covid-19 Nasal Vaccine Announced
Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Tuesday announced the price of its recently-approved intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, named iNCOVACC.
Currently in India, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield and Covovax, Russian Sputnik V, and Biological E Limited's Corbevax are available vaccines for Covid-19. Last month, Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech received approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for the use of intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, named iNCOVACC. Bharat Biotech on 27th December 2022 announced the price of its recently-approved iNCOVACC. It is priced at Rs. 800 plus taxes for private hospitals and Rs. 325 for central/state government hospitals.
The vaccine will be made available to the public in the fourth week of January. People can book their vaccination slots through the Co-WIN website. Bharat Biotech said that participants in the clinical trials showed considerable antibody levels in their saliva after receiving iNCOVACC which could help prevent infections and transmission of the virus. The nasal vaccine will now be available as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age. Those who have taken Covishield and Covaxin can now take the nasal vaccine. The nasal vaccine is beneficial because it provides immunity as well as convenience of administering with no need for syringes and trained manpower. Second, it will be practical and affordable. This would mean not only lower costs but also easy distribution, no need for cold chains with very low temperatures and so on. Meanwhile the health infrastructure has reportedly been struggling in many provinces of China amid an "explosion" of COVID-19 cases. According to the Associated Press, hospitals in Hebei and Zhejiang province are allegedly refusing patients as they are witnessing a surge of one million patients on a daily basis.
The country is currently dealing with a dangerous nationwide COVID-19 wave, with Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and crematoriums being overburdened. Meanwhile on 27th December 2022, India reported 157 new covid cases. ISH News has translated Box 14 Satvik Movement videos in ISL. To improve your immunity have a look at this video - https://youtu.be/Y4hixcGyOoQ
