Maharashtra: Covaxin Trials For Children Likely To Begin In Nagpur By February End Or Early March

Dr Krishna Ella-led vaccine maker Bharat Biotech is likely to begin the trial of indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin for those below the age of 18 years and older than two years by end of February or early March, reports Times of India.

A leading children's hospital in Nagpur is said to have been earmarked as one of the sites for the trials which would begin as soon as the Hyderabad based vaccine maker gets the Government's regulatory go ahead.

As per the coordinator for the trials, Dr Ashish Tajne, the trial would be the first in the world in which a COVID-19 vaccine's trials would be conducted on paediatric population from toddlers to teens. He also shared that the trials will be conducted in age slabs like two to five years, six to 12 years, and 12 to 18 years.

It should be noted that Dr Ella who is the chairman and managing director of Bharat Biotech had said in January that the vaccine for children will be ready in the next four months.

The development gains significance as the international regulations state that only the vaccines based on the inactivated virus can be administered to children under the age of 16 years. This makes Bharat Biotech's Covaxin the only suitable option for children in India given the other Made in India vaccines are based on mRNA technology and chimpanzee adenovirus vector platforms.