NEW DELHI: The Central government on Friday endorsed Bharat Biotech's needle-free intranasal Covid vaccine for booster dose, an official source said on Friday.

The nasal vaccine will be available in private hospitals for booster-dose in the initial phase. It has been approved for those aged above 18 years. 

The source further said that the nasal vaccine will be used as a heterologous booster among the entitled population. Meantime, the intranasal Covid vaccine is also likely to be introduced in the Covid-19 vaccination program from Friday, source added.

The nasal vaccine is expected to be added to the CoWIN App from this day (December 23) only.

Meanwtime, India on Friday reported 163 new Covid-19 cases along with 9 deaths have also been reported in the country. The number of active coronavirus cases declined to 3,380.

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