On Friday, India’s drug regulator granted emergency approval to the world’s first DNA-based coronavirus vaccine.
Leading the news: The three-dose needle-free vaccine was developed by the pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila. The company added that it is also the first vaccine approved in the country for teenagers between 12 and 18 years old.
How it works: Zydus Cadila explained that the vaccine, known as ZyCoV-D, produces the peak protein of the coronavirus, which elicits an immune response to fight the disease.
- The vaccine is estimated to be about 67% effective, Bloomberg reports.
- The company also claims the vaccine is effective against virus variants, including the highly contagious Delta variant.
The big picture: The vaccine is the sixth to be approved in the country. Approximately 9.30% of the entire Indian population has been completely vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
By numbers: India has reported a total of 32,393,286 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 433,964 deaths from JHU.