The final approval, however, will come from Drug Controller General of India.
“After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended for grant of market authorization of the vaccine for the age group of 2 to 18 years for restricted use in emergency situation,” the subject expert panel said in a statement.
The ‘made in India’ vaccine will be administered in two doses, with a gap of 20 days between the first and second dose
The safety and immunogenicity of India’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin are almost the same in children as in adults above 18 years of age, reported news agency ANI quoting an AIIMS professor.
“Covaxin’s trial was done on three age groups. The first group examined was between 12 -18 years, the second group was between 6- 12 years and the third age group was between 2-6 years,” said Dr Sanjay K Rai, a professor at the Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Rai was the principal investigator of Covaxin trials on children.
“At first, we finished the examination of people aged between 12- 18 years and then subsequently other groups. Covaxin’s vaccine safety and immunogenicity are almost the same. However, the final results of these trials are awaited. We had already carried out trials on the adult population. For children, we are waiting for the results,” said the doctor.
Notably, Covaxin will become only second vaccine approved for use on kids; in August Zydus Cadilla’s three-dose DNA jab was allowed to be used on adults and children over 12.
