Second dose of Covaxin trials for children | Fusion - WeRIndia

Bharat Biotech is conducting Covaxin trials on children aged 2-6 years. The company is going to conduct a second dose of trials in this age group in the next week.

Children in the age group of 6-12 years have already been given the second dose as part of its clinical trials.

For clinical trials, children are divided into various categories based on their age. Each group consists of 175 participants. All of them will be administered the second dose of Covaxin. An interim report is expected after the completion of the process. It may be by the end of August. Based on the report, the safety of the vaccine on children will be known. A decision will be taken accordingly.

As per AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria, Covaxin may get the nod for children in September.

He said that the availability of the COVID-19 vaccine for children will help resumption of outdoor activities for them. It can also help to reopen schools.

In addition to Covaxin, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D will also get the nod from the drug regulators to be used for children. ZyCov-D is a three-dose vaccine. Zydus Cadila applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) at the beginning of this month for children aged above 12 years and above. Pfizer vaccine is also another option for children after getting approval from the authorities.

The government, however, wants to take the decision carefully before approving a vaccine against COVID-19 for children.

Officials in this regard said that more data is essential for the approval of the coronavirus vaccine for children.

At present, the government decided to provide free vaccine to all adults aged above 18 years. Since the beginning of the vaccination drive, over 40 crore vaccine doses have been administered to the citizens.

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