Chennai: Covid vaccines for children are likely in a matter of days, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was told at a meeting of BJP MPs at Parliament.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at the meeting of the BJP’s parliamentary party on Tuesday that the government would likely start vaccinating children next month.
India was on its way to becoming the largest producer of vaccines as his Ministry would expedite more licences to Indian companies, he stated. He also spoke about the government’s efforts to fight Covid-19 and ramp up vaccination.
Meanwhile, Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, said at a press conference that both Bharat Biotech’s Covaxvin and Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccines for the 12-18 age group were being looked into.
“Final trial results are awaited and after due scrutiny, the vaccines will be made available for children. We hope to make the vaccine available in the near future,” he added.
An expert panel of India’s Central Drug Authority on Tuesday recommended granting permission to Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2/3 trials of Covovax on children aged 2 to 17 years with certain conditions, official sources said.
VK Paul, member (health) of Niti Aayog, said that the government is also encouraging Biological E, Novavax to conduct paediatrics study once they are found safe for adults.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that clinical trials in children need to pass rigorous ethical evaluations and meet certain standards before being allowed to recruit patients.