Nagpur: One of the world’s largest producers of vaccines, Serum Institute of India (SII), said that it hopes to launch the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine for children in six months.
The firm’s chief executive on Tuesday announced the development, which could be seen as a gamechanger in India. The vaccine, called Covovax by the SII, has shown good results in trials in children aged three and older, Adar Poonawalla during a press conference.
The announcement comes as the Omicron scare rises in the country. The newly-discovered variant has been reported in various states in India. The highest cases have been reported in Maharashtra. One of the cases reported in the state is of a three-year-old kid who has a travel history.
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) recently conducted a meeting on December 8 regarding the clinical trials in India. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given a nod to Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D vaccine which is world’s first DNA plasmid vaccine against the Covid-19 for emergency usage for children above the age of 12.
On the other hand, Bharat Biotech is conducting phase two and three trials for Covaxin to be administered to children from ages two to 18. The ministry of Health and Family welfare said, “The approval of aforementioned COVID-19 vaccines is dependent on the successful completion of clinical trials and submission of requisite data to the National Regulator i.e., Drug Controller General of India as per the requirements of New Drugs and Clinical Trials Rules, 2019 under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.”
