Time For India To Start Vaccinating Kids

On 21st October India marked a historic milestone event of vaccinating 100 crore of its population and continues to chase more as it has reached 114.46 crore. Now, India is also required to slightly shift its goal on immunising children to reduce the risk of spread of infection and to ensure the reopening of schools and other educational institutes.

Vaccines for children in India

The first vaccine to get approval for children, from the Indian regulator is Zydus Cadila, an Ahmedabad based pharma company. It is a DNA based and three-dose vaccine that can be administered to children aged 12 and above. This indigenously developed vaccine is the world’s first DNA based, needle-free vaccine that was granted an emergency use authorisation on 20th August, however, the government was in continuous price negotiation with the company and now with the final deal, Zydus Cadia has agreed to bring down the price. The vaccine is soon expected to arrive in the market, as the government has placed orders for 1 crore doses of its vaccines. Kids with comorbidities and low immune systems would be given priority.

The other vaccine available in India that can also receive the authority of children’s immunisation is Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. On 4th November, Bharat Biotech’s vaccine got acceptance from WHO after persistent efforts of providing trial reports and it had already got clearance for usage in 17 countries. Now, Covaxin looks ahead for kid’s vaccine to get authorised from the Indian regulators as it had completed phase 2/3 trials of children aged between 2- 18 years and had put forward the data to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for approval for Emergency Use Authorisation. Although the Subject Expert Committee recommended a grant of market authorisation for restricted use in an emergency, the company still awaits a final statement as the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) continues to evaluate the data. If approved, it will be the second vaccine for use in children below the age of 18.

Vaccines outside India

Covaxin’s partner US company, Ocugen has requested the authorities for emergency approval in the US after providing its data of clinical trials of small groups of children.

Children in India have not been exposed to vaccination yet but some of the European countries, the UK, US, China and others have already started the vaccination coverage among the kids.

Pfizer and Moderna are the vaccines that have been widely given the approval to give shots.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children 12-17 years of age has been authorised by Denmark, Italy, Switzerland, United States, UAE, Japan, Philippines, New Zealand and Canada.

Pfizer has also won approval for its shots in children aged between 5-11 and now several countries have become set to start the vaccination.

While Moderna still awaits approval for children aged 6-11, the company is making shots available for kids above 12.

Other than Pfizer and Moderna, China’s  Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are being given to children aged 3-17. Countries like UAE, Bahrain, Argentina, Columbia have given the authorisation to Sinopharm, whereas Chile, Ecuador are among the countries that have approved Sinovac for the vaccine shots.

Children below 18 years who are being vaccinated have been complaining about the symptoms that have been found to be usual among the older population, like pain in the arm, achy muscle and even a fever but the regulators have been encouraging the parents to get their kids timely vaccinated, as it helps in preventing the kids from getting COVID-19.