NTAGI holds meeting on Covovax inclusion as heterologous booster on CoWin portal

According to sources, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) met on February 8 to discuss the inclusion of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults on the CoWin portal in order to increase dose uptake. The Serum Institute of India (SII) also wrote to the Union Health Ministry in January, requesting that its Covid vaccine Covovax be included on the CoWIN portal.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the Serum Institute of India (SII) COVID jab Covovax as a heterologous booster dose on January 16.

Last week the government drug regulatory authority Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) recommended market authorisation for Serum Institute of India’s Covid vaccine Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for those who have already taken two doses of Covishield or Covaxin.

Earlier, DCGI had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28, 2021, for ages between 12-17 on March 9, 2022, and also for children who come under 7- 11 years on June 28, 2022, subject to certain conditions.

Covovax is manufactured through technology transfer from Novavax. It has been approved by the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorization. It was granted an emergency-use listing by the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 17, 2021.

Recently, Bharat Biotech’s nasal Covid vaccine for adults above 18 years old had been launched by the Government of India and its batches were also released.
The vaccine is available in private hospitals.
iNCOVACC is the world’s first Intranasal Vaccine to receive both Primary series and Heterologous booster approval.