Corbevax receives Expert Nod for Children Aged 12 to 18 Years
Sources said that the government has not yet taken any decision on vaccinating children below the age of 15 years.
On Monday, an expert committee of the Central Drugs Authority of India has recommended the emergency use of the biological E's corona vaccine 'Corbevax' for children aged 12 to 18 years, subject to certain conditions. As per the sources, the subject expert committee on Covid-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) discussed the use of organic e and recommended approval with certain conditions. This recommendation has been sent to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.
According to the Health Ministry, "the company has conducted phase 1/2, 2/3 clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in the country. Further, a phase 3 has been conducted as an active comparator clinical trial to evaluate superiority against Covishield vaccine."
“Adolescents in this age group (15-18 years) have been actively participating in the inoculation process, and going by this pace of vaccination, the rest of the beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group are likely to be covered with the first dose by January-end and subsequently their second dose is expected to be done by February-end,” said Dr N K Arora, Chairman of India’s Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization.
Information by the sources
“The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Covid-19 of the CDSCO which deliberated on the application recommended granting restricted emergency use authorization to Biological E’s Corbevax for the 12 to less than 18 years age group subject to certain conditions,” a source said.
This two-dose vaccine requires an interval of 28 days. Sources said that the government has not yet taken any decision on vaccinating children below the age of 15 years. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has already approved the emergency use of Corbevax for adults. However, it has not yet been included in the vaccination campaign. This vaccine is injected into the muscle. It is a two-dose vaccine to be administered at an interval of 28 days. 15 crore adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years were fully vaccinated.
