COVAXIN For Children: Bharat Biotech sought permission to trial COVAXIN on 525 healthy volunteers with the age group of 2 years to 18 years. The Drug Controller General has given approval.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved trials on people in the age group of 2 to 18 years of Covaccine. The trial committee had recommended the trial on Tuesday on the proposal of Bharat Biotech. The company will trial phase 2/3 of its vaccine at 525 volunteers.
According to sources, apart from AIIMS in Delhi and Patna, this trial will also be conducted in some other medical institutes. In January this year, the central government had approved the emergency use of adults. COVAXIN is a vaccine of Kovid-19 made entirely in India.
How COVAXIN will be tried on children
According to the proposal approved by DCGI, there will be 515 participants in the trial. Their age will be between 2 years to 18 years. Two doses of vaccine will be given via injection. The second dose will start 28 days after the first dose. In the usual trial of covaxine, 28 days time was given between the two doses.
If the company starts a trial after volunteering, the trial is likely to be completed by July. After this, the data will be placed in front of the regulator. If all goes well, the vaccine may be approved for emergency use for children in August / September based on the interim results. The final results were not awaited for adults to approve the vaccine.
COVAXIN has proved to be very effective
Bharat Biotech vaccine was found to be up to 78% effective in adult trials. In recent times, it has also been revealed that COVAXIN protects against not only the previous forms of SARS-CoV-2, but also mutated strains. This vaccine has been prepared by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research. Presently this vaccine is being applied to adults in India. The second dose is applied four to six weeks after the first dose is applied.
In the US, Pfizer’s vaccine has been approved for use in children between 12 and 15 years old. In addition, Maderna is also trying to get her vaccine approved for children. No company vaccine has been approved for children in India yet.
COVAXIN is being supplied in these states
Bharat Biotech has supplied vaccines in 18 states since May 1. States like Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. On Wednesday, the Delhi government said that their stock of COVAXIN has come to an end and due to this many vacancy centers have to be closed.
