COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D administered to 20 children in Belagavi

With the rising COVID-19 cases among children in Karnataka, a clinical trial of a vaccine has been conducted on children in the Belagavi district. ZyCoV-D, a vaccine produced by Zydus Cadila has been tested on children aged between 12 and 18. There were 43 trial sites in India and in each site, the vaccine was administered to at least 20 children. In Karnataka, the Jeevan Rekha Hospital in Belagavi was the only trial site.

According to the health department officials, 20 children have been successfully vaccinated as part of Zydus Cadila's phase 3 efficacy trials. They have undergone clinical trials after two months of vaccination. These clinical trials were conducted to check side effects on children due to vaccination.

Dr Amit Bhate, Director and Principal Investigator at Jeevan Rekha Hospital in Belgavi said, "A total of 1,700 volunteers participated in the clinical trial out of which 12 of them were children. The vaccination is given in three phases including the first dose on day zero, second =on day 28 and the third one on day 56."

In India, children are vaccinated for 12 diseases including whooping cough, polio, tuberculosis, hepatitis B, meningitis, pneumonia, Haemophilus influenza type B, rotavirus and measles.