India to initially introduce ZyCoV-D Covid-19 vaccine in seven states including Tamil Nadu

NEW DELHI: India will initially introduce the ZyCoV-D Covid-19 vaccine in seven states.

The Cadila Healthcare Ltd's Zydus Cadila vaccine aims to protect against COVID-19. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Thursday announced that seven states namely, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh & West Bengal where ZyCoV-D vaccine will be used initially may identify districts with a high number of the first dose left out for the introduction of the vaccine.

"National training for ZyCoV-D has been completed. The Selected States should plan sessions based on pharmajet injector and identify vaccinators to be trained for using it for vaccination," a statement issued by the ministry said.

The Central Drug Laboratory (CDL) has reportedly cleared at least seven batches containing 2.37 lakh doses of India's first DNA vaccine. The health ministry has reportedly placed a purchase order for one crore dozes of Zydus Cadila's three-dose Covid-19 vaccine, a report said.

The government was initially expecting to start the distribution of the vaccine by this month. The government has also initiated training of vaccinators for administering the vaccine.

The health ministry statement further said that the cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 125 Crore on Thursday. Out of which, 79.13 Crore (84.3%) beneficiaries have been vaccinated for 1st dose and 45.82 Crore (49%) received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report.

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