Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid-19 vaccine – the iNCOVACC (BBV154) – will be sold for ₹325 per dose at government hospitals, and for ₹800 in private set-ups from the fourth week of January, the pharma major said.
INCOVACC is already available on the CoWin platform. The Union health ministry had approved the intranasal vaccine as a booster dose for those aged 18 years and above.
The nasal dose roll-out comes amid a global surge in Covid-19 cases, especially in China, and a nationwide alert in India as part of which mock drills were conducted to check the state of preparedness.
A Business Standard report said India’s vaccination drive, which had slowed down amid a return to normalcy, got a boost after the government’s advisory to mask up and stay alert. The report said in the first 20 days of December, the average daily vaccination in India was 42,591 doses. But after the government alert, the number doubled to 82,113 doses. On 23 and 24 December, the daily vaccination was more than 1 lakh doses.
The nationwide mock drills checked the availability of medical facilities in hospitals, isolation wards, beds, oxygen facilities, and capacity of beds equipped with ventilator supports
International airports in India are already conducting random screening of passengers returning from countries where a surge in the number of cases has been reported.
