As many as five Covid-19 vaccines will soon be ready for children aged above 2, the Centre on Friday informed the Parliament during the Winter session. Speaking about the status of Covid-19 vaccines for children in the country, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Minister of state in the Union Health Ministry informed that Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has granted permission to conduct a clinical trial of five Covid-19 vaccines in children and adolescents.
These five vaccines are--Cadila Healthcare's ZyCoV-D, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, Serum Institute's Covovax, Biological E's RBD, and Johnson & Johnson and Ad 26COV.2S vaccine.
The minister added that Cadila Healthcare has conducted Phase-III trial of ZyCoV-D (recombinant DNA) in the age group 12 years and above. The vaccine is approved for restricted use in emergencies in the age group 12 years and above.
Yesterday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said that Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D will initially be used in seven states (Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal).
Zydus Cadila on November 8 said it had received an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D to the Indian government at ₹265 per dose.
"Zydus Cadila has received an order to supply one crore doses of ZyCoV-D, the world's first Plasmid DNA Vaccine, to the Government of India at ₹265 per dose and the needle-free applicator being offered at ₹93 per dose, excluding GST," the pharma firm had said in a regulatory filing.
The three doses of ZyCoV-D are to be administered 28 days apart. The vaccine was given emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the Indian drug regulator on August 20.
On the other hand, Bharat biotech is conducting a Phase II/III clinical trial of Covaxin on healthy volunteers aged 2 to 18 years. The firm has submitted interim safety & immunogenicity data, Pawar told the Parliament today.
She said that the Serum Institute of India is conducting Phase II/III clinical trial of nanoparticle vaccine (Liquid) (COVOVAX) in 920 subjects of more than 2 years to 17 years age group.
While Biological E Ltd. is conducting Phase II/III clinical trial of RBD of SARS- CoV-2 gene in 624 subjects of more than 5 to less than 18 years age group.
And, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd. is conducting a Phase II/III clinical trial of Ad 26COV.2S vaccine in the age group of 12-17 years.