Serum Institute to begin Novavax vaccine trials for children in July

Mangalore Today News Network

Pune, Jun 17, 2021: The Serum Institute of India (SII) is expected to begin clinical trials of the Novavax vaccine for children in July of this year. This will be the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to undergo a clinical trial for children.

 

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has already started clinical trials of Covaxin for children aged 12 to 18 years of age. A total of 525 children are part of these trials being conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and Patna.

Clinical trials for Covaxin will also be conducted for children in the 6-12 age group followed by the 2-6 age group.

Vaccine maker Bharat Biotech is also conducting clinical trials testing its nasal Covid-19 vaccine for children.

Zydus Cadila has also begun the trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, in children aged 12-18. The pharma company now plans to conduct clinical trials for its vaccine in children in the 5-12 age group.

India’s vaccination drive

The Government of India launched a nationwide vaccination drive against Covid-19 on January 16 of this year. A total of 26.55 crore doses of the approved vaccines have been administered across the country to date.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, only healthcare and frontline workers were eligible to receive the jab. The vaccines were made available for those aged 60 or above in the second phase of the vaccination drive starting March 1. Vaccinations were also permitted for those in the 45-60 age group with comorbidities in this phase.

From April 1 onwards, all Indians aged 45 and above were eligible to receive the vaccine as part of the third phase of the vaccination drive. Vaccinations for those aged 18-45 started in the fourth phase of the drive on May 1.

Courtesy:India Today