Bharat Biotech’s intranasal vaccine will be used in India’s Covid-19 vaccination programme.

On December 23, 2022, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the vaccine was approved for booster doses because it is easy to administer.

The vaccine, iNCOVACC, will soon be available on the CoWin vaccination portal. Already, DCGI  has approved it as a booster and heterologous dose.

Bharat Biotech says iNCOVACC is stable at 2-8°C for easy storage and distribution. It can be given as a booster dose to people who have already received Covishield, Covaxin or any other Covid-19 vaccine approved in India.

According to the Ministry of Health, about 27% of the population over 12 has received a preventive dose, while 97% have received the first and 90% have received the second. To date, 223.5 million precautionary doses have been administered. Nearly 78% of those aged 18-59 still need to be covered, and 60% of those over 60 are not taking precautionary shots.