PremiumThe Centre's Covid working group Chairman Dr NK Arora on Sunday informed that Zydus Cadila vaccine for children is likely to be available by July end or in August. He said the trial was almost complete and the government might be able to start administering this vaccine to children of 12-18 age group by end of July. "Trial for Zydus Cadila vaccine is almost complete. By July end or in August, we might be able to start administering this vaccine to children of 12-18 age group," Arora said.
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Earlier, it was feared that the children would be more susceptible to possible third wave of Covid. Recently, a Task Force set up by the Andhra government projected that the state might see a staggering 18 lakh cases in what could be the third Covid wave affecting at least 4.50 lakh children.
AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria today said that making vaccine available for children will be a milestone achievement and pave the way for reopening of schools and resumption of outdoor activities for them. He said the data of phase two and three trial of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on two to 18 years age group is expected by September. The vaccine can be available for children in India around that time following approval from the drug regulator, he said.
"If the Pfizer vaccine gets approval before that, then it can also be an option for children," Dr Guleria told PTI on Saturday.
Zydus Cadila is likely to soon apply for emergency use authorisation for its vaccine ZyCoV-D, which it claims can be given to both adults and children. "So, if the Zydus vaccine gets approval, it will be another option," Dr Guleria said.
Today, Dr NK Arora said that the ICMR has come up with a study which says third wave is likely to come late. "We have window period of 6-8 months to immunise everybody in country. In coming days, our target is to administer 1 crore doses every day," he said.
