Coronavirus: As India gives nod to two COVID-19 vaccines and one pill, we tell you everything you need to know

Amid rapid surge in the Omicron cases, India's drug regulator CDSCO has approved two more coronavirus vaccines, Corbevax and Covovax, and an antiviral drug Molnupiravir for restricted use in emergency situations.

Celebrating another milestone in our fight against COVID-19, the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday tweeted, "Congratulations India. Further strengthening the fight against COVID-19, CDSCO, @MoHFW_INDIA has given 3 approvals in a single day for CORBEVAX vaccine, COVOVAX vaccine, antiviral drug Molnupiravir for restricted use in an emergency situation".

Read also: India to roll out precaution 'booster' dose for 60 above: What is the required gap between the second and the third shot?

So far, there are six COVID-19 vaccines approved for use in India. Serum Institute's Covishield, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Russia-made Sputnik V, Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D and the US-manufactured Moderna and Johnson and Johnson Janssen have received emergency use approval from India's drug regulator. Now, with the two more additions to the list, the tally has increased to eight.

Let us take a detailed look at the two latest COVID-19 vaccines and the antiviral pill that have been given the nod by the drug regulator.

Corbevax COVID vaccine - Biological E's Corbevax is the first indigenously developed RBD protein sub-unit vaccine in India made in collaboration with Texas-based Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.

Covovax COVID vaccine - Serum Institute of India's Covovax is a protein subunit of the vaccine developed under licence from American biotechnology company Novavax, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). Recently, the vaccine received emergency use approval from the World Health Organization (WHO), making it the 9th COVID-19 vaccine to get WHO's approval.

Molnupiravir COVID pill - The antiviral drug molnupiravir is developed by US pharma company Merck, which will now be manufactured in India by 13 companies for restricted use under emergency situations. The COVID-19 pill is approved as 200mg capsule with a recommended dose of 800 mg twice in a day for five days. This will be standard for the treatment of adult COVID-19 patients who have their oxygen saturation above 93%, and are at risk of severity including hospitalisation or death due to comorbidities.

As far as coronavirus vaccines are concerned, they are intramuscular vaccines that are injected into the skin. Molnupiravir, initially developed to treat influenza, is a repurposed anti-viral drug to treat COVID-19 patients.

It is a pill that prevents the replication of the SARs-COV-2 virus in the body by introducing errors to the genetic codes of the virus. Administered as four 200mg capsules, which is 800mg daily, it is to be taken orally every 12 hours for five days, for a total of 40 capsules.

The oral antiviral drug molnupiravir has been approved for restricted use in emergency situations. This means that the drug should not be given to everyone, rather those in dire need of it, based on his/her medical condition. In India, it has been recommended for adult patients suffering from COVID-19, who have an oxygen level over 93% and if they are at risk of disease progression and severity including hospitalization or death.

India is set to begin administering COVID-19 booster shots to healthcare, frontline workers and those above 60 with comorbidities from January 10. Younger adults between 15 to 18 will also receive their coronavirus vaccine from January 3.