Covaxin gets DCGI nod for 6-12 age group, Corbevax for 5-12-year-olds

PAVING THE way for the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination drive for those aged below 12 years, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday granted emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for 6-12 years and Biological E’s Corbevax for 5-12 years.

The final decision will be taken by the government’s expert body on Covid-19 vaccination, health ministry sources said. Currently, India is only administering Covid-19 vaccines to those above 12 years — Corbevax for 12-14 years and Covaxin for 15-18 years.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended that all those above 5 years should be vaccinated. In the US, Pfizer’s mRNA Covid-19 vaccine is being used for children in the age group of five years and above. According to the CDC, children in this age group (5+) are “most frequently” affected by Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a condition associated with Covid-19 where different body parts get inflamed. Noting that vaccination helps prevent MIS-C, the CDC has said that it “is collecting data on how well Covid-19 vaccination works against MIS-C in younger children. As more children under 12 years old get vaccinated, CDC will be able to analyse and share the data. View More…