Zydus Cadila to seek emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 vaccines

Ahmedabad based pharmaceuticals, Zydus Cadila that was earlier testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate on individuals between 12-18 years of age, is reported to the approach Drug Controller General of India to seek emergency use authorization for its vaccines soon.

Followed by approval, this would turn to be the first DNA plasmid vaccine in the world, according to Business Standard. Earlier the sources in the government and the company assured that the company might seek an emergency use authorization from the drug regulator in the following week.

Business Standard quoted a source who revealed that “the data analysis from the phase 3 trial is almost ready. The company may soon seek EUA for its vaccine.”

ZyCov-D manufactured by Zydus Cadila uses plasmid DNA to direct the human cells to make SARS-CoV- 2 antigen eliciting an immune response. The vaccine is required to be stored between 2-8 degree Celsius. On the other hand, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that use mRNA is required to be kept in a cold chain maintenance of up to -70 degree Celsius or at least -15 to -25 degree Celsius. It is assumed that this vaccine can be easily ‘tweaked’ than the mRNA vaccines for use against variants.

Earlier, experts suggested that the children rarely develop severe forms of COVID-19. On contrary to this, the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra have witnessed a rise in pediatric COVID-19 cases which led to deaths as well. Few cases on pediatric black fungus were also reported.

Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist World Health organization informed to News18 that the parents and teacher are required to get vaccinated more till the vaccines are available for the children. A Scientist from World Health Organization expressed, “I am very hopeful that ultimately we all have vaccines for children. But that’s not going to happen this year, and we should open schools when the transmission is down.” He further stated that the other countries have opened the schools when the transmission were down with other precautions. He added that if the teachers are vaccinated it would be a big step forward.

Countries like US, Canada, and the EU have already commenced to vaccinate children between 12-15 years of age. The United Kingdom too approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for the age group of 12-15 years.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Accept Privacy & Cookies Policy