New Delhi, Sept 14: The discussion on the pricing of Zydus Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D is is ongoing and a decision will be taken soon, said Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) NITI Aayog on Tuesday.

“The discussion on the pricing of ZyCoV-D is ongoing. A decision will be taken soon. We are looking to include this vaccine in the national vaccination program,” said Dr Paul in an exclusive interview with ANI.

Country’s drugs regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) approved the Zydus Cadila’s vaccine for emergency use on August 20. According to sources, ZyCoV-D, a needle-free coronavirus vaccine, is likely to be available by early October. It is the world’s first plasmid DNA vaccine for Covid-19. It’s a three-dose vaccine that will be administered on day zero, day 28, and day 56. The vaccine has been approved to be administered to adolescents between ages 12 and 18.

In an effort to expand the pool of COVID-19 vaccines in the country, Dr Paul said that Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax and COVID-19 mRNA vaccine are in the final stages of trial.

“The other two vaccines are Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine, Corbevax, which is in the final stages of trial. Its manufacturing is already going on. Likewise, we have a fascinating mRNA vaccine from Genova. It is also in the final stages of the trial and this will also be available before the end of the year,” said the NITI Aayog member.

He also said, “Bharat BioTech’s nasal vaccine and also US firm Novavax’s vaccine developed outside will now be stockpiled by Serum Institute of India. The emergency use authorisation (EUA) of this vaccine has not yet happened but our trials are near completion. So this will be another additional vaccine to the portfolio.”

Presently, Covishield, Covaxin, and Sputnik V vaccines are being administered to the eligible population above 18 years.

(with ANI inputs)