Covaxin gets nod from India's Central Drug Authority to give to children aged 2 to 18 years. But it's not for everyone

The Central Drug Authority of India has recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children in the age group of 2 to 18 years on October 12. However, the authorities have put certain terms and conditions in place before granting the use of vaccine. 

Bharat Biotech which is based in Hyderabad completed the phase 2/3 trails of COVID vaccine Covaxin for use in children aged between 2 to 18 years. They submitted the data to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for verification and approval for Emergency Use Authorisation in the beginning of October. As per their data, the tests were conducted on over 1,000 children across India. And it was noted that the vaccine trial showed similar impact as it shows on adults.  

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 examined the data and deliberated on the EUA application on Monday. After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended grant of market authorisation of the vaccine for the age group of 2 to 18 years for restricted use in emergency situations subject to certain conditions. The recommendations of the SEC have been sent to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.

When DGCI will grant final approval, Covaxin will be the second vaccine for the use of kids after Zydus Cadila's three-dose DNA jab is used for children above 12 years. The third vaccine for kids is Novavax by Serum Institute. For this, the DGCI has cleared trails for children aged between 7 and 11 years. Similarly, Corbevax by Biological E has been cleared to conduct trials on children aged above 5