Mumbai: The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday approved Serum Institute of India’s COVID-19 vaccine Covovax for use on children aged between seven and 12 years. The organisation also approved India’s first indigenously developed mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 for restricted use in emergency situations.
According to the SII website, Covovax is a recombinant spike protein nanoparticle vaccine that to date was approved for use on individuals 12 years of age and older. It is administered intramuscularly in two doses with an interval of three weeks between jabs. Although it is not clear whether this difference will remain the same for younger children.
Earlier this week a government panel recommended that Kovovax be approved for emergency use on children over the age of seven. DCGI approved Kovovax for restricted use in emergency situations on December 28 in adults and on March 9 in the age group 12 to 17 years, subject to certain conditions.
DCGI has also approved Genova Biopharmaceuticals’ two-dose mRNA vaccine for restricted use in emergency situations for the age group of 18 years and above. This is the first time that this vaccine is stable for storage at 2°C to 8°C.
The company submitted the data in the month of April. Then, they submitted further additional data in the month of May. The subject expert committee under India’s drug regulator has found the data submitted by Genova Biopharmaceuticals “satisfactory”.
The nationwide vaccination campaign was launched on January 16 last year, in which health workers were vaccinated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2 last year. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination began on March 1 last year for people above 60 years of age and 45 years and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
India started vaccination for all people above 45 years of age from 1st April last year. Following this, the government decided to expand its immunization drive by allowing everyone over the age of 18 to be vaccinated against the viral disease from May 1 last year.
The next phase of vaccination began on January 3 for adolescents aged 15-18 years. The country started immunization of 12-14-year-olds on March 16.
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