According to reports, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization had a meeting on February 8 to discuss adding the adult heterologous booster dose of the Covid 19 vaccine, Covovax, to the CoWin site to increase uptake of the doses.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) also requested in a letter sent in January to the Union Health Ministry that their Covid vaccination Covovax be made available on the CoWIN platform. Covovax received commercial authorization from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 16 to be used as a heterologous booster dosage.

The DCGI recommended market authorization for SIIs Covid vaccine Covovax last week to be administered as a heterologous booster dosage for patients who have already received two doses of Covishield or Covaxin.

DCGI had previously given Covovax the green light for limited use in emergencies in adults on December 28, 2021, for children between the ages of 12 and 17 on March 9, 2022, and for children between the ages of 7 and 11 on June 28, 2022, all under the condition that certain requirements are met.

Covovax is developed using technology that was transferred from Novavax. The European Medicines Agency has permitted it to be marketed under certain conditions. The World Health Organization (WHO) approved its listing for emergency use on December 17, 2021.

Recently the Government of India announced the launch of Bharat Biotechs nasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC, the first intranasal vaccine in the history of the world to get approval for both primary series and heterologous booster for adults older than 18 years old.

(Source:  https://health.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/ntagi-holds-meeting-on-covovax-inclusion-as-heterologous-booster-on-cowin-portal/97790875)