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India gives emergency approval for world's first COVID-19 DNA vaccine

20 August 2021 19:23 (UTC +04:00)

India's drug regulator has granted emergency use approval for Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine, the world's first DNA shot against the coronavirus, in adults and children aged 12 years and above, APA reports citing Reuters.

The approval gives a boost to India's vaccination programme, which aims to inoculate all eligible adults by December, and will provide the first shot for those under 18, as the country still struggles to contain the virus spread in some states.

The vaccine, ZyCoV-D, uses a section of genetic material from the virus that gives instructions as either DNA or RNA to make the specific protein that the immune system recognises and responds to.

Unlike most COVID-19 vaccines, which need two doses or even a single dose, ZyCoV-D is administered in three doses.