Covaxin gets DCGI approval for 6-12 age group, Corbevax for 5-12 year olds

By Our Special Correspondent

AMID a spike in Covid-19 cases in some parts of the country, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday approved three corona virus vaccines for use in children. The drug regulator gave the restricted emergency use authorization for Biological E’s Covid-19 Vaccine Corbevax for Children aged between five and 12 and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for the age group of 6-12 years.

At present, the three-dose version of ZyCoV-D is being used in the national vaccination drive for the adult population. This is the first Covid-19 vaccine built on a DNA platform, and has been approved for commercial use. Zydus said the second dose will be administered after 28 days. It said the two-dose regimen was tested on 3,100 volunteers over 12 years of age. In its three-dose regimen, the vaccine is administered with a gap of 28 days between each jab.

“This will increase the compliance for the vaccine and reduce the overall time required for vaccination to improve immunity against the virus. It will also help in administering the vaccine in a larger population in a shorter time, which is always desirable in the midst of a pandemic,” said Dr Sharvil Patel, Managing Director, Zydus Life sciences.

The new approvals were tweeted by Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, who said India’s fight against Covid has become more robust. The announcement came as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to hold a virtual meeting with CMs on Wednesday to discuss the recent Covid spike.