Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is likely to be the only jab to be used for the vaccination of children between the age of 15 and 18 years, news agency PTI reported. The immunisation programme of adolescents aged between 15-18 years will begin from 3 January 2021.
Zydus Cadila's vaccine ZyCoV-D has also been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation(CDSCO) for children but it is not likely to be part of the immunisation programme as it has not yet been introduced even for adults.
According to Dr NK Arora, Chairman of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), Covaxin has shown very good immune response in children during trials.
"In fact, it is slightly better than adults. Secondly, this vaccine is a safe vaccine, and even local effects like pain, swelling in the arms are much less as compared to adults," he told news agency ANI.
Earlier, Bharat Biotech had claimed that Covaxin is safe and effective for both adults and children. The company also pointed out that its claims were based on safety and immunogenicity data readouts.
“Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children. It has established a proven record for safety and efficacy in adults for the original variant and subsequent variants,” the company said in a statement.
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“We have documented excellent safety and immunogenicity data readouts in children. We look forward to Covaxin providing similar levels of protection for adults and children alike,” it added.
On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccination against Covid-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3,adding “precaution dose” for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10. The decisions for immunisation programmes in adolescents and of precaution dose came amid rising Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant of the virus.
