The Union Health Ministry has approved Bharat Biotech’s nasal vaccine for inclusion in the vaccination programme against COVID19 as a booster dose for those over 18 years of age, media reported quoting official sources.

People who have been vaccinated by either Covidshield or Covaxin are eligible for taking a nasal vaccine as a heterologous booster dose.

The intranasal vaccine, whose price is yet to be determined, will be available for administration in private vaccination facilities across the country and will be introduced to the COWIN Platform from the evening of December 23, 2022.

It may be recalled that the nasal vaccine, BBV154, or iNCOVACC, received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India in November for restricted use in an emergency situation for those above 18 as a booster dose.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry said that it will issue a fresh set of guidelines for combatting COVID19 for the upcoming holiday season, given the rising cases in china and many other countries recently.

The health ministry said that they estimate that ten countries are accounting for over 81% of the total new infections in recent days, driven by Japan, followed by China, where the R number or the capability of one person infected by the virus re-infect another is 16.

It may be recalled that Prime Minister Narendra Modi held an emergency meeting with the officials to review the preparedness across the country on December 22, 2022.

The Union Health Ministry issued an updated guideline for international travellers arriving in India on December 23, 2022. According to the guidelines, all travellers should preferably be fully vaccinated according to the rules in their countries.

The guidelines further recommended that 2% of the passengers arriving in India will have to undergo mandatory testing for COVID19 on arrival, and symptomatic passengers will be isolated and segregated from other passengers and shifted to an isolation facility for further treatment.

The Ministry said that so far, only four cases of the BF.7 strain of the virus, responsible for the current surge of cases in China have been detected in the country.

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