India launched the world's first intranasal COVID19 vaccine recently. The vaccine was launched by Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya and Union Minister of State (IC) for Science and Technology Dr Jitendra Singh.

The vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance (BIRAC), a PSU under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Union Health Ministry said, “iNCOVACC (vaccine) is a cost effective covid vaccine which does not require syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandage, etc, saving costs related to procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, that is routinely required for injectable vaccines.”

“It utilizes a vector-based platform, which can be easily updated with emerging variants leading to large scale production, within a few months. These rapid response timelines combined with the ability of cost effective and easy intranasal delivery, makes it an ideal vaccine to address future infectious diseases,” the ministry press  note reads.

According to the ministry, a rollout of iNCOVACC is expected to begin in private hospitals that have placed advance orders. Initial manufacturing capacity of several million doses per annum has been established, this can be scaled up to a billion doses as required. iNCOVACC is priced at INR 325/dose for large volume procurement by State Governments and Govt of India.

Dr Mandaviya said, “Over 65% of vaccines supplied in the world are from India. Congratulating the BBIL team and the dept of Biotech for bringing about the world’s first nasal vaccine, he stated that “being the world’s first intra-nasal COVID19 vaccine, this marks a glorious tribute to the call for Atmanirbhar Bharat.”