KD Desk
Before the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic which is expected to affect children more as per experts, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Saturday said that children will start getting vaccinated by September 2021. During an interview with a channel, Dr Guleria said that Pfizer and Zydus vaccines should be soon available for children.
Earlier during the week, reports said that the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech will administer its indigenous anti-COVID shot to children in the age group of 2-6 years as part of its vaccination trials for kids.
In view of a probable third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, vaccination trials on children have been underway in the country. Besides Covaxin, Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila is also testing its anti-COVID shot for children.
Covaxin, along with Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila’s three-dose shot, ZyCov-D, are the two vaccines that experts believe will be cleared for children in the near future. While Covaxin is already being used in the nationwide vaccination drive, Zydus Cadila on July 1 applied for emergency use authorisation (EUA) of its vaccine candidate for those aged 12 and above.
The second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines has already been given to children aged between 6 to 12 years at the Delhi AIIMS.
Covaxin is being used on adults in India’s ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive since January 16 this year.
Zydus Cadila
Gujarat-based Zydus Cadila is also testing its anti-COVID shot for children.
Vaccine trials for kids are conducted by dividing them into different categories on the basis of their age, with 175 participants from each age group included.
Once every participant has been injected with a second dose, an interim report is expected by the end of August.
On the basis of this interim trial report, a decision will be taken if the vaccine is safe to be used on children.
