New Delhi: Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been approved for being administered to children between 6 and 12 years of age and Corbevax for children 5 to 12 years old, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday. The permission has been granted under the Restricted Emergency Use (REU). Further, Zydus Cadila’s vaccine ZycovD has also been approved for children above the age of 12 years for a two-dose regimen. Mandaviya said India’s fight against Covid has become stronger with the recent approvals. The approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) comes following recommendations by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). According to the officials, the DCGI has directed the Bharat Biotech to submit the safety data, including the data on the adverse events, with due analysis every 15 days for the first two months and monthly from the third month up to 5 months. Currently, Biological E’s Corbevax is being used to inoculate children against Covid-19 in the age group of 12 to 14 years and Covaxin is being administered to children in the age group of 15-18 years. Covaxin was granted Emergency Use Listing by the DCGI for the age group of 12 to 18 years on December 24, 2021. Covid-19 vaccinations for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years commenced on January 3 this year. The drive was later expanded to include children aged above 12 years last month. India launched the vaccination drive for all people aged more than 45 years on April 1 last year. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May last year. UNI ASH MR
