Zydus Cadila May Apply For License To Administer Its ZyCoV-D Covid-19 Vaccine To Children In 12-18 Age Group: Report

Within two weeks, pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila is set to apply for a license to administer the doses of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate to children aged between 12-18 years as it is currently undertaking tests for the same.

“Not only Covaxin is conducting child trials—and they will not take long because they are all immunogenic trials—but also Zydus vaccine is already being tested on children,” NITI Aayog (health) member Dr VK Paul was quoted in a report by the Hindustan Times.

The senior government official mentioned that around 25-26 crore doses of the vaccines would be required to vaccinate children falling between the 12-18 age category. Hence, Paul asserted that they would have to consider this sheer volume to subsequently strategize and make a call based on the availability of the vaccines.

Meanwhile, Zydus Cadila is conducting the phase 3 trial protocol for ZyCov-D, its vaccine candidate, by administering three intradermal doses in 30,000 volunteers. The company has mentioned that its vaccine was immunogenic, well-tolerated and safe in the Adaptive Phase I/II clinical trials.