India's drug regulator on Friday approved Zydus Cadila's three-dose COVID-19 DNA vaccine for emergency use in adults and children above 12 years of age.

ZyCoV-D is claimed as the world's first DNA vaccine against the novel coronavirus developed by an Indian company, according to a governmental statement.

It is the sixth vaccine approved for use in the country after India's Covishield and Covaxin, Russia's Sputnik V and the U.S.-made Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.