ZyCoV-D to be rolled out soon: Union Health Minister

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday informed that the ongoing discussions on the pricing of ZyCoV-D are in their last stage. The vaccine would be rolled out soon, he added. Mandaviya was addressing a press conference on the recently launched Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Health Infrastructure Mission.

The vaccine, meant for children between 12 and 18 besides adults, is RNA based and got Emergency Use Authorisation from WHO on August 20.

Regarding Bharat Biotech's Covaxin's EUL approval, Mandaviya said that the global health body's technical team has approved and " the other committee is meeting today which will decide on the approval of the vaccine".

When asked about the new Covid variant AY 4.2, the health minister said that nothing could be said about the severity of variants this time. A team of the Indian Council for Medical Research and the National Centre for Disease Control are investigating and analysing the different variants, he said. He further added that the pandemic provided an opportunity to improve health infrastructure.