NTAGI panel takes up inclusion of COVOVAX as heterologous booster dose

The Covid-19 Working Group of the NTAGI discussed the inclusion of Covovax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose for adults on the CoWin portal to boost the uptake of precaution doses

The COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) discussed the inclusion of Covovax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose for adults on the CoWin portal to boost the uptake of precaution doses, official sources said on Saturday.

A final decision on its inclusion will be taken by the NTAGI's Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) which is likely to meet by the end of this month.

The COVID-19 Working Group discussed the matter on Wednesday.

According to an official source, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute of India (SII), had written to the Health Ministry last month seeking inclusion of Covovax on the CoWIN portal.

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 16 approved market authorisation to Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been administered two doses of Covishield or Covaxin.

The DCGI's approval was based on recommendations by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the CDSCO.

The DCGI had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28, 2021, in the 12-17 age group on March 9, 2022 and in children aged 7- 11 years on June 28, 2022, subject to certain conditions.

Covovax is manufactured through technology transfer from Novavax. It has been approved by the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorization. It was granted emergency-use listing by the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 17, 2021.

In August 2020, US-based vaccine maker Novavax Inc. had announced a licence agreement with the SII for the development and commercialization of NVX-CoV2373, its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in India and low-and-middle-income countries.