Why in news?
Pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila will supply 1 crore doses of ZyCoV-D the Centre by the end of December, 2021
About the Zydus Cadila vaccine
- India will initially introduce of Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCoV-D Covid-19 vaccine in seven states of India.
- The seven states are Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
- Recently, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has approved ZyCoV-D for restricted use in emergency situation in the age group 12 years and above.
- ZyCoV-D is the first DNA plasmid vaccine in the world for human use, developed indigenously by the company against the Covid-19 virus.
- It is also the first COVID-19 vaccine that is needle-free and administered using PharmaJet, a needle-free applicator to ensure painless intradermal vaccine delivery which also leads to a significant reduction in any kind of major side effects.