28th January 2022 – Bharat Biotech, the maker of Covaxin has been given the nod from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), to conduct a phase III clinical trial for an intranasal booster dose of the vaccine on people who have received the first two doses.
The vaccine maker has said that the nasal vaccine booster (BBV15), stimulates immune response in the nose, and will be very effective in blocking the transmission of Covid-19.
An intranasal booster dose would mean that it would be easier to administer the doses, without the need of trained healthcare workers. Hence it will also be easier to conduct mass vaccination drives. It will also reduce the need for syringes and needles, as they will not be required.
This would mean that, the overall cost of the vaccination drive would reduce.
The clinical trails will evaluate the nasal drug for the second dose and for the booster dose.
The vaccine maker will have to submit 15 days of clinical trail data for the drug to be cleared for emergency use. For Regular market use, however, 6 months of clinical trail data will need to be submitted.
Earlier, both Covaxin and Covishield had been cleared for market use, after Bharat Biotech and Serum Institue of India had submitted the required documents regarding the vaccine trails to the DCGI. This approval would mean that people will be able to buy these vaccines from Hospitals and clinics.
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