Government to receive first supply of Corbevax vaccine on February 15

The Central government will receive its first supply of 300 million doses of Biological E's Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax, from Tuesday. The order for the doses was placed on August 21, 2021, as per the report released by the Business Standard. 

According to the report, Biological E already produced 250 million doses of Corbevax and aimed to finish the remaining doses in a few weeks. Last year, the Centre paid the Hyderabad-based company an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore. A total of 300 million doses are to be supplied to the government. The supply came after the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) suggested the emergency use of the authorization to Corbevax for children between the ages of 12-18, subjected to certain conditions. 

The DGCI is expected to give final approval to the two-dose vaccine soon. Official sources told ANI on Monday that the price of Corbevax, excluding taxes, is expected to be Rs 145.

Last December, the DGCI approved Corbevax for restricted use in an emergency in adults. However, the vaccine is not yet included in the ongoing vaccination drive in the country. 

Corbevax is India's first indigenously developed RBD protein sub-unit vaccine against Covid-19, according to the Union Health Ministry.

It will be the second vaccine to receive an emergency use authorization for children under 18, following Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. As per the above sources, Biological E will soon submit data for clinical trials of Corbevax on children under the age of 12.

Currently, the Centre has not decided to vaccinate children under 15 years. A total of  6,71,46,856 vaccine doses are administrated to children between the ages of 15-18. Over 5.21 crore children have received the first dose, with the remaining 1,50,14,801 fully immunized.

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