New Delhi: Amidst the threat of a third COVID-19 wave looming large, the vaccination programme for children against the disease may begin by October. The Central Government's expert committee on vaccines may soon accord sanction for this mass drive.
In the first phase, children in the age group of 12-18 will be administered vaccines. Clinical trials have been completed in this category. Vaccination for the age group of 2-6 and 5-12 will be undertaken later as the trials are not yet completed.
Dr. Priya Abraham, the Director of the National Virology Institute in Pune, informed that children would start getting vaccines from September end or from October beginning.
CAUTIOUS ON BOOSTER DOSE
However, as of now, the government is not planning to give booster doses for those who have taken two doses of vaccines. This is because more scientific studies have to be completed about the after-effects of giving booster dose especially in the event of threats posed by the Delta variant of the pandemic, one of the members of the expert panel on vaccines told Manorama.
The aim is to complete the process of giving two doses of vaccines to all those who are above the age of 18 this year itself.
But countries like the USA, Israel, France, Germany, Russia, China and the UAE have started giving booster doses to its citizens.
ZyCov-D, COVAXIN TO BE GIVEN FIRST TO CHILDREN During the first phase of the children inoculation programme, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin would be administered.
The trial stage of the ZyCov-D vaccine is over and it now awaits the government's final clearance. It was not used for vaccination among the above 18 years of age group because of clearance issues.
The trial was conducted among 28,000 children and the testing was found to be successful. The test was conducted on children in the age group of 12-18.
The entire details regarding the second round of trials and the after effects of this vaccine on 1,000 teenagers during the third phase were submitted by the Zydus Cadila to the expert panel for getting clearance. Now, the company is planning to test this vaccine among those who are in the 5-12 age group.
The trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin among children are in the final stage. The trials are being now conducted for the 2-6 age group. The trials have already been undertaken in the 6-12 age group. The results of these trials are expected to come next month.
Many countries abroad have started inoculation of the Moderna vaccine among children. Though the government gave clearance to the Moderna vaccine, the product is not yet available in the country.
Some other countries have started giving Pfizer vaccine, which is yet to get the Indian Government's clearance.
The Corbevax vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Biological E is also expected to yield good results in coronavirus containment.
WHY VACCINATION IS LATE FOR CHILDREN?
According to the expert panel, children have more resistance power compared to elders and hence, there is no urgency.
Moreover, more studies have to be done on the aspect of giving children the same kind of vaccines which are being administered to those above 18 years of age.
