Covid-19: Corbevax to be introduced as "heterogeneous" booster in Covid vaccination programme from August 12

This is for the first time that a booster dose that is different from the one used for primary vaccination against Covid has been allowed in the country

The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday announced introduction of US-designed, India-made Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax as the country’s first “heterologous” booster shot from Friday (Aug 12) for those who received two doses of Covishield or Covaxin.

“Corbevax will be available as precaution dose after completion of six months or 26 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for population above 18 years,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote in a letter to the states. The letter, dated August 8, was released today.

The expansion of vaccine choice happened two months following the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation’s approval to use it on people aged 18 years or older after six months of the primary dose.

“There will be no change in existing guidelines for homologous precaution dose administration of Covaxin and Covishield. But the option of a heterologous precaution dose with Corbevax would be available to all persons above 18 years. This provision would be live from Aug 12,” Bhushan wrote.

The vaccine's manufacturer, Hyderabad-based Bio E had earlier stated that its clinical trial on the heterologous booster dose with 416 participants demonstrated that Corbevax booster led to a significant enhancement in the immune response besides showing excellent safety profile required for an effective booster.

The Corbevax booster shots resulted in a significant increase in neutralising antibody levels against the omicron variant, the company said.

Developed jointly with Baylor College of Medicine, Houston and Texas Children's Hospital, it is a protein subunit vaccine. More than 6.85 crore doses of Corbevax has been administered to kids between 12-14 years so far.

India has administered more than 200 crore doses of the Covid vaccines so far. About 97% of the 12 plus population has been covered with a single dose while 89% received both doses.

The uptake of booster shots, however, remains low with less than six crore individuals in the age group of 18-59 years receiving the precautionary dose.

Last year, the Union Health Ministry made an advance agreement with Bio E to buy 30 crore doses at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore as one of the primary doses. While that didn’t happen, the vaccine would now be offered as a booster in the government-driven campaign.