Covid-19 Vaccine For Children In India By September: ICMR-NIV Director

Commenting on the scientific developments on Covid-19, she said the results are going to be available very soon and added the results will be presented to the regulators.

Covid vaccine for children soon (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s National Institute of Virology (NIV) Director Priya Abraham has expressed hope that Covid-19 vaccine will be available for the children by next month.

Abraham said phase II and III trials of Covaxin are presently  going on for the children in the age group of 2 to 18 years.

Commenting on the scientific developments on Covid-19, she said the results are going to be available very soon and added the results will be presented to the regulators.

“Hopefully, the results (of the trials) are going to be available very soon. The results will be presented to the regulators. So, by September or just after it, we may have Covid-19 vaccines for children,” Abraham told India Science, an OTT channel of the science and technology department, in an interview.

Abraham said Zydus Cadila’s vaccine trial is also going on, adding this can also be applied for the children and will be made available.

“...Zydus Cadila’s vaccine trial is also going on. This can also be applied for children and will be made available,” she said.

Stating studies on booster dose have been going on overseas and at least seven different vaccines have been tried for it, Abraham said: "Now, WHO (World Health Organisation) has put a stop to it till more countries catch up with vaccination. This is because there is an alarming vaccine gap between high-income and low-income countries. But, in future, recommendations for boosters will definitely come.”

Emphasizing on getting vaccinated, the ICMR-NIV Director said the Covid vaccines are important to prevent serious forms of disease due to which patients may get hospitalized and even die.

Abraham further said vaccine is protective against all variants, including the Delta variant.

“Yet, the vaccines are still protective against the variants. They may show a little less efficacy, but vaccines are very important to prevent serious forms of disease due to which patients may get hospitalised and even die. So, whatever the variant, vaccine is till now protective against all, including the Delta variant. So, there should not be any hesitancy at all," she said.

READ: Covid-19 Vaccine: UK Approves Moderna Shot For Children Aged 12 To 17 Years

She added that recommendations for boosters will definitely come in the future.

Commenting on mix-and-match of vaccines, Abraham said it will definitely not cause a safety issue.