Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax is expected to be available as a booster dose on the CoWIN App in public and private vaccination centres from August 12.
The price per dose for private COVID-19 vaccination centres is ₹250, which is inclusive of Goods and Services Tax (GST). For the end-users, including taxes and administrative charges, the price will be ₹400 per dose, the vaccine maker Biological E. said in a statement.
Six months gap
The Hyderabad firm said this following Union Health Ministry approval for Corbevax as a heterologous COVID-19 booster dose, under the emergency use authorization route, for individuals aged 18 years and above. The vaccine can be taken as a booster shot six months from the second dose of the primary vaccination with either Covaxin or Covishield vaccine.
“Corbevax has become the first vaccine in India to be approved as a heterologous COVID-19 booster. The approval by the Ministry is another important step in combating the pandemic. We are very pleased with this endorsement, which recognises the safety and efficacy of our vaccine," said Mahima Datla, Managing Director of Biological E.
A traditional recombinant protein-based technology, also used for vaccines such as Hepatitis B, is behind Corbevax. Clinical trials of the heterologous booster dose demonstrated significant boosting of humoral immune response measured in terms of neutralisation antibody titres against the ancestral as well as the omicron strain, binding antibody titres as well as cellular immune response along with minimal adverse events that were mild in nature, the company said.
The Ministry's approval was based on recommendations made by the COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI). The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had approved the vaccine for emergency use as a heterologous booster dose, for individuals above 18 years, on June 4.
10 cr doses supplied
In a series of approvals from December 2021 to April 2022, Corbevax had received emergency use authorisation as a primary two-dose vaccination regimen in adults, adolescents and children 5 years and above. Ten crore doses of Corbevax has been delivered to the government of India by the company. Pan-India roll-out of the vaccine for children aged 12-14 years was initiated on March 16 and thus far almost 7 crore doses have been administered and 2.9 crore children have completed the two-dose vaccination regimen, Biological E. said.
