Covid-19 vaccination program started with vaccinating the healthcare providers, has now managed to vaccinate more than 28 percent of Indians barring children.
Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union Health Minister notified on Tuesday that the Centre is to begin vaccination of children against the Covid-19 in August. He also said that the parliamentary meeting on the subject was also attended by PM Modi.
This comes after wide speculation of the impact of possible Covid third wave on children to be higher as compared to the other two waves. The absence of vaccines for children just adds to the woes.
AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria last week stated that making vaccines available for children would definitely pave way for the reopening of schools and outdoor activities. He also mentioned that trials for Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin on children are underway and results are expected to be released by September.
He further said that vaccine manufacturer Zydus Cadila, which recently requested EUA for its COVID vaccine ZyCov-D, has also included the data for children for their vaccine.
The trials for the vaccines are being conducted in three phases as per the age of the children. The first trial was started in the age group of 12 to 18 years followed by the age group of 6 to 12. Trials for children between the ages of and 2-6 years are currently undergoing trials.
Moreover, if the Pfizer vaccine also receives approval from the Centre then it could also become an option for children, Dr. Guleria said.
