Rotavirus vaccine: Product switch

In India, the RVV introduction and scale up was done with two types of products- a liquid frozen RVV and a lyophilized RVV. In 2021, a new liquid RVV product was licensed and was introduced in the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). As of January 2023, the RVV lyophyilized product has been completely phased out from the UIP. Currently, the two products used are RVV liquid frozen (Rotavac) and RVV liquid (Rotasiil). Both the products are indigenously manufactured.

was achieved as a part of the ‘100 days agenda’ covering the entire birth cohort of 26.7 million using two different indigenous RVV products namely Rotavac® and Rotasiil®. The introduction was carried out under the stewardship and ownership of the Central Government along the shortest timeline.

In 2021, the manufacturer of Rotasiil® informed MoHFW about the change of Rotasiil lyophilized product to Rotasiil liquid, following which a decision of product switch was taken for all 11 states using Rotasiil lyophilized and five select states using Rotavac®.

As recommended by World Health Organization (WHO), RVVPIE has been conducted in 14 states to provide an understanding of the operational aspects of the immunization programme at different levels of the health system of the country in March 2022.

Since its roll-out and up until February 2023, 27.48 crore doses had been administered. Government of India is making constant efforts to improve the access, coverage and quality of immunization and thus ensure that all children are protected from the vaccine preventable diseases.