ZyCoV-D, Cadila child vaccine price finalised, rollout within weeks

New Delhi: The Centre has negotiated the price of Zydus Cadila’s Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D and plans to introduce it into the public immunisation programme within the next few weeks. This will entail starting vaccinations for children aged 12 and up who have comorbidities.

“The pricing of the ZyCoV-D vaccine has been finalised,” said Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The manufacturers began production as soon as they received emergency use authorization from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).”

When asked when will the vaccine be introduced in the public immunisation drive, the health minister replied, “Turant hee (Immediately).”

The business daily citing sources mentioned that, the government has negotiated the pricing of the vaccine which is “much lower than what the manufacturers had demanded but more than what the government is paying for Covaxin and Covishield”.

Zydus Cadila had received EUA from DCGI for ZyCoV-D on August 20. ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine which is administered using a special syringe. The Centre has been training healthcare workers in administering this vaccine.

The government will introduce the vaccine for children 12 years and above. The first priority group will be children with comorbidities like cancer, respiratory, neurological, rheumatic, cardiac, liver, gastrointestinal, genitourinary and developmental disorders. This will be the first children’s vaccine in India.

If you take the vaccine at private hospitals then it is going to cost you more as they need to negotiate the price with the manufacturer separately.

Even as the government is paving the way for immunisation of children above 12 years of age, it is treading carefully on vaccination of children between 2 and 12 years.