Bharat Biotech's intranasal COVID-19 vaccine has been approved by the Union Health Ministry as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age, official sources said on Friday. The needle-free vaccine will be available at private centres. It will be introduced on the CoWIN platform soon, they said. It is likely to be rolled out in the national COVID-19 vaccination programme soon.
The nasal vaccine -- BBV154 -- received approval of the Drugs Controller General of India in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 years as a heterologous booster dose. Heterologous boosting means that a person is injected with a different vaccine from the one used for the primary and secondary doses. There are studies that suggest that heterologous booster shots trigger a more efficient immune response. The approval for the vaccine comes amid a spurt in COVID-19 cases in China and some other countries.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will hold a meeting with the Health Ministers of the states and Union territories at 3 pm on Friday over the COVID-19 related situation. States and Union territories will undertake a mock drill across all health facilities on Tuesday, December 27, to ensure the operational readiness of the COVID-dedicated facilities, with a specific focus on oxygen plants, ventilators, logistics and human resources, according to official sources. An advisory in this regard will be issued by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya after the meeting with the Health Ministers of the states and Union territories, the sources said.
The states have been asked to strengthen surveillance in accordance with the surveillance strategy already issued (health facility-based sentinel surveillance; pan-respiratory virus surveillance; community-based surveillance, sewage/wastewater surveillance). They have also been asked to ensure the ramping up of the testing infrastructure, encourage precautionary dose uptake and ensure adherence to COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) in view of the upcoming festive season and the New Year. They have also been advised to ramp up whole genome sequencing and ensure that a large number of samples are sent for the same.