Zydus Cadila's Covid Vaccine For Children ZyCoV-D To Be Rolled Out Soon: Health Minister

COVID-19 Vaccine For Kids in India: Big news has come out on vaccines for children. Authorities have approved emergency use of ZyCoV-D vaccine.

New Delhi: There have been questions on COVID-19 vaccination for children in India especially regarding the availability and utilisation of two vaccines, ZyCoV-D from Zydus Cadila and Covaxin from Bharat Biotech. So far, no official release date has been made for either of the two vaccines.

While ZyCov-D has been approved for emergency use in children. On the other hand, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, which recently underwent clinical trials for children between the ages of 2 and 18, is currently awaiting DCGI approval.

According to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the production of Zydus Cadila is underway at a rapid pace and the vaccine would soon be available for administration to children. However, further discussion would be based on what experts advise on Covaxin. 

Vaccination Drive In India:

In India, the COVID-19 vaccination drive is underway at a rapid pace. As of 7 am on Tuesday, a total of 1,02,94,01,119 doses have been administered to Indians above the age of 18.

Zydus-Cadila Vaccine: So far, Zydus-Cadila's ZyCoV-D vaccine, which can be given to children above the age of 12 years, has been approved for emergency use. Zydus-Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine had been recently approved and the company has started production soon after its approval. A decision on its pricing may be taken soon. 

Expert Discussion Underway: Apart from this, a clinical trial was conducted on Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for its usage on Children aged between 2 to 18 years. The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drug Standard Control Organization has sent their recommendations to DCGI and has sought its approval, which is still to be received. 

Children May Get Vaccinated By Next Year:

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "We are exercising strict caution when it comes to getting children vaccinated and we would proceed only based on recommendations we get from experts, According to my knowledge, one committee has approved the vaccine and the remaining process is rapidly underway. At present, the government does not want to act hastily in rolling out vaccines for children. It is expected that healthy children could get vaccinated from next year onwards. At the same time, comorbid children could be vaccinated earlier.