India set to buy Zydus Cadila's coronavirus vaccine

India has placed an order for 10 million doses of Zydus Cadila's DNA COVID-19 vaccine at a price of $3.57per dose, the drugmaker said on Monday.

The three-dose vaccine, ZyCoV-D, was approved by the country's drug regulator in August for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above.

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As opposed to traditional syringes, it is administered using a needle-free "PharmaJet" applicator.

"The needle-free application of the vaccination, we hope, will motivate many more to vaccinate and safeguard themselves from COVID-19," Sharvil Patel, managing director of Zydus, said in a filingto the stock exchanges.

The total cost to the government to inoculate a person with the vaccine and the applicator would come up to $14.48.

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India has so far administered nearly 1.09 billion vaccine doses to its adult population, of which 88 per centhave received a version of AstraZeneca's shot by the Serum Institute of India, which sells it to the state governments at Rs 400 a dose and to private hospitals for Rs 600.

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The two other shots used are a home-grown one by vaccine maker Bharat Biotech and Russia's Sputnik V. Bharat Biotech supplies its vaccine at Rs 150 a dose, while Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the supplier of Sputnik V, has priced the shot at Rs 995.

The Rs 265price had been decided in consultation with the government, Zydus said.