Zydus Cadila’s Covid-19 vaccine ZyCov-D, which has been cleared by India’s drug regulator for those aged 12 years and above, will only be administered to adults as of now under the government’s national anti-Coronavirus vaccination programme, official sources said on Sunday.

The health ministry has given a go-ahead to initiate the preparatory work for the inclusion of the indigenously-developed, needle-free vaccine and it can be introduced in the programme anytime soon. It has already placed a purchase order with the Ahmedabad-based firm for 1 crore doses of the vaccine.