- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA’S drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) on Tuesday (28) allowed the country’s premier vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute to enrol children aged 7-11 years for its trial of American drugmaker Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine.
India has so far inoculated more than 870 million adults among its population of nearly 1.4 billion.
A subject-matter expert of the CDSCO told Reuters, “After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended for allowing enrolment of subjects of 7 to 11 years of age group as per the protocol.” Experts had cautioned that the country’s children were in danger of contracting the virus in a possible third wave. Several thousands died during a devastating second wave in the country in April-June.
Serum Institute is already conducting a trial of its vaccine Covavax, a domestically made version of Novavax’s shot, in the 12-17 age group and has presented safety data for initial 100 participants.
Novavax is yet to get approval from the Indian health authorities. In early September, Serum chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla said he expects Covavax to get the nod for those below 18 years in next January or February.
Till now, only Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccine has got an emergency-use approval in India to be used in adults and children aged 12 or above.
(With Reuters input)
