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Explained: Is Covaxin the only Covid-19 vaccine for children of 15-18 years in India?

By alagu, 27 December, 2021
Omicron, Covaxin, COVID-19

Amid fighting the Omicron Covid-19 variant, India is all set to take a major leap in its battle against the global pandemic as the country is going to unfold the vaccination weaponry to the minors from the New year. As the nation awaits to witness how the crucial vaccination drive is going to progress, it has been reported that the Covaxin will most likely be the only Covid-19 vaccine that would take the baton of administering doses for children of 15 to 18 years of age. 

In a televised address on Saturday - December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the vaccination against Covid-19 for children between 15-18 years will begin from January 3, 2022. He announced that Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will be inoculated to the children while also speaking about the vaccination drive for the geriatric population, the people above 60 years of age. The Prime Minister has said that 'precaution dose' for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10. 

The precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years and Narendra Modi had appealed to them to take the vaccine doses on the advice of their doctor if they have comorbidities. For children between 15-18 years, Covaxin is the only vaccine that will be administered as of now. PTI has quoted the source saying, "Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is the only Covid-19 vaccine which will be administered, for now, to children in the age group of 15-18 years who will be inoculated from January 3. The estimated population to be covered in this category is seven to eight crores." 

The government has said that Covaxin has more benefits to children and that it has shown a very good immune response in children during the trials. In an interview with ANI, Dr NK Arora, the Chairman of India's Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (NTAGI), said on Sunday, "Children between the age of 12 and 18 years, particularly those in the age group of 15 to 18 years, are very much like adults. Our research within the country also says that almost two-thirds of the deaths below 18 years which occurred due to Covid in India are within this age group. So, this decision was mainly taken to protect the adolescents." 

Arora further said, "There are two advantages of immunizing adolescents. One is that they are quite mobile, they have to go to school and colleges and their risk of getting an infection, particularly in the light of Omicron, is present. Secondly, many times these adolescents get infections in their households where the elderly and those with comorbidities can get infected. So, in view of all these, the country has decided to introduce vaccination for children between 15 to 18 years." 

As the Drugs Controller General of India has given Emergency Use Authorization for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for beneficiaries between 15-18 years of age, Dr Arora said that the vaccine has shown a good immune response during the trials. He said, "The point is that we have a vaccine, which is approved for children. Covaxin has shown that it has a very good immune response in children in trials. In fact, it is slightly better than adults. Secondly, this vaccine is safe and even local effects like pain, swelling in the arms is much less as compared to adults. We would like to offer this protection to our adolescents." 

By citing that the time gap for two doses of the Covaxin vaccine for children will be four weeks, he said, "Although the disease's effects are much milder, a lot of parents are still not very confident in sending their children to schools. So this vaccination drive will also be giving confidence to them. I would say it's a great New Year gift for our adolescents." In his address, the Prime Minister said that India will introduce the world's first DNA- based needle-free Covid vaccine- the indigenously developed Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D vaccine. 

According to reports, the gap between the second and third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, which is being termed as the precaution dose, is likely to be nine to 12 months and necessary modifications are being done on the CoWIN portal to register the new category of vaccination. As per the current data, more than 61 per cent of India's adult population has received both doses of the vaccine. Similarly, 90 per cent of the adult population has received the first dose of the Covid vaccine. 

Following the approval for emergency use in children, Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech has said, "Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children. We have documented excellent safety and immunogenicity data readouts in children. We look forward to Covaxin to provide similar levels of protection for adults and children alike. Bharat Biotech thanks Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, for his visionary leadership during this pandemic. Bharat Biotech is also thankful to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, NITI Aayog, DCGI, and NTAGI for their diligent review of all data and for their fastidious approval process." 

 

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