DCGI permits emergency use of SII's Covovax vaccine for those aged 12-17

Indias drug regulator has granted restricted emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute of Indias Covid19 vaccine Covovax for the 1217 years age group subject to certain conditions official sources said on WednesdayIt is the fourth vaccine to receive the regulators nod for use among those below 18 yearsThe Drugs Controller General Of Indias DCGI approval comes after the Subject Expert Committee on Covid19 of the CDSCO last week recommended granting emergency use authorisation EUA to Covovax for those aged 12 to 17The government has still not taken a decision on vaccinating those aged below 15 years The health ministry has consistently said that additional need for vaccination and inclusion of population for vaccination are examined constantlyIn the EUA application to DCGI Prakash Kumar Singh director government and regulatory affairs at SII on February 21 had stated that the data from two studies on about 2707 children aged 12 to 17 years show that Covovax is highly efficacious immunogenic safe and well tolerated in this age group of childrenThis approval will not only be beneficial for our country alone but will benefit the entire world fulfilling our prime ministers vision of making in India for the world In line with the philosophy of our CEO Dr Adar C Poonawalla we are sure that Covovax will play an important role to protect children of our country and world at large against Covid19 disease and will keep our national flag flying high globally an official source had quoted Singh as having stated in the applicationThe DCGI has already approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28 It has not yet been included in the countrys vaccination driveThe DCGI on February 21 granted restricted EUA to Biological Es Covid19 vaccine Corbevax for the 12 to less than 18 years age group subject to certain conditionsCovovax is manufactured by technology transfer from Novavax and is approved by the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorisation and also granted emergency use listing by WHO on December 2017 2020India has been using Bharat Biotechs Covaxin to vaccinate adolescents between 1518 yearsZyCovD is the first vaccine cleared by Indias drug regulator for inoculation of those aged 12 years and above in August last year Indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin received approval for emergency use in 12 to 18 in December last yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever