The country’s drug regulator has given emergency approval to the Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for 12-18 years. It is the second vaccine for children after Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. However, the government has not yet decided on vaccination for less than 15 years. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)’s approval comes after the Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19 of the CDSCO on February 14 recommended granting restricted EUA to Corbevax for the 12 to 18 years age group after deliberating on Biological E’s application.
Corbevax vaccine for children: All you need to know
1. The vaccine is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) Protein sub-unit vaccine against Covid-19.
2. Cobrevax is a “recombinant protein sub-unit” vaccine, developed from a component of the spike protein on the virus’s surface, which helps the body build the immune response against the virus.
3. The Corbevax vaccine is administered through the intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days apart.
4. It is stored at two to eight degrees Celsius temperatures and presented as 0.5 ml (single dose) and 5 ml (10 doses) vial pack.
4. Dr N K Arora, Chairman for India’s Covid-19 Working group of National Technical Advisory Group on immunisation (NTAGI) on Tuesday confirmed that Corbevax is safe.
5. The cost of the Corbevax vaccine is likely to be ₹145, according to news agency ANI.
Meanwhile, India has administered 175.78 crore doses of vaccine to date. Of which, more than 1.91 crore (1,91,45,905) precaution doses have been administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers, and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities so far.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started on February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to get inoculated from May 1.
The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
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