India launches its first Covid-19 vaccine for animals
New Delhi, June 10: India now has a Covid-19 vaccine for animals. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar launched the country's first homegrown Covid-19 vaccine Anocovax for animals on Thursday.
The vaccine has been developed by Haryana-based ICAR-National Research Centre on Equines (NRC). The institute has also launched antibody detection kits for animals.
Anocovax is an animal vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 Delta. According to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the immunity elicited by Anocovax neutralises both the Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2.
The vaccine contains an adjuvant, Alhydrogel, and inactivated SARS-CoV-2 (Delta) antigen. It is also safe for dogs, lions, leopards, mice, and rabbits.
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"It is due to the untiring contributions of scientists that the country stands self-reliant in developing its own vaccines more rather than importing. This is really a big achievement," Tomar said after the virtual launch of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The Agriculture Minister, Tomar launched the 'CAN-CoV-2 ELISA kit' -- a sensitive and specific nucleocapsid protein-based indirect ELISA kit -- for antibody detection against SARS-CoV-2 in canines.
"There are no laboratory animals required for the preparation of the antigens. The kit is made in India and a patent has been filed for the same. No other comparable kits for detection of antibodies in canines are available in the market," ICAR added.
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-PTC News
