Covid-19 Vaccine: Centre Removes Time Constraint For Taking The Jab; Clinical Trials In Process To Test Efficacy For Children

Covid-19 Vaccination Update: The development is critical because most schools have reopened in several parts of the country and children remain potential carriers of the infectious disease.

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India has extended its Covid-19 vaccination drive and entered the second phase in which those above 60 years of age, 45-plus with other illnesses are getting the jab. Although available vaccines have not been evaluated in children so far, clinical trials are in the process to test the safety and efficacy of covid-19 vaccines for children, according to the indication by the Union health ministry.

As per the report in Mint, the disease has an impact on all age groups, but morbidity and mortality are experienced more in adults, particularly those above 50 years. The health ministry document quoted by Mint has said children are either asymptomatic or have a mild infection.

Typically any new vaccine is evaluated in the older population and then assess the safety and efficacy in the paediatric population, as per the government. The development is critical because most schools have reopened in several parts of the country and children remain potential carriers of the highly infectious disease.

Under the largest vaccination drive, the health ministry urged the states/UTs to utilise 100 per cent capacities of all private hospitals under the said category to enable them to effectively function as vaccination centres.

Meanwhile, citizens will now be able to take vaccine round the clock at their convenience. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardha took to microblogging website Twitter and said: "The government has ended the time constraint to increase the speed of vaccination. Citizens of the country can now get vaccinated 24x7 at their convenience."

He emphasized that Prime Minister Narendra Modi understands the health of citizens of the country as well as the value of their time. Vardhan and his wife took the vaccine shot at Delhi Heart and Lung Institute on Tuesday.

The ministry also allowed the private hospitals which are not under empanelled under AB-PMJAY, Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) and State Insurance Schemes to be utilised as coronavirus vaccination centres (CVCs).

In the latest research,  Indian pregnant women are more willing than their counterparts in the rest of the world to take a covid-19 vaccine that is safe, free and 90 per cent effective, according to a global survey of women conducted by Harvard researchers.

The results of the research by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US, were published this week in the European Journal of Epidemiology.