Results of COVID vaccine trials for children likely by September: AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria

By Team Newsable | First Published Jul 24, 2021, 11:47 AM IST

AIIMS director Randeep Guleria has said that the trials of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on children are presently underway and the results are expected by September.

New Delhi: In a major step towards the fight against coronavirus, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria on Saturday said that India is likely to start vaccinating children by September.

In an interview with NDTV, Guleria underlined that it will be an important move to break the chain of transmission.

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"I think Zydus has already done the trials and they're waiting for the emergency authorisation. The Bharat Biotech's Covaxin trials should be over by August or September, and by that time we should get an approval. Pfizer vaccine has been already approved by the FDA (US regulator - Food and Drug Administration). Hopefully, by September, we should start vaccinating children, and that will be a big boost as far as breaking the chain of transmission is concerned," Dr Guleria said.

Randeep Guleria's statement comes as the second dose of Covaxin is likely to be administered to children aged 2-6 years in trials next week. The second dose of Covaxin has already been given to children between the ages of 6-12 years at the Delhi AIIMS. Covaxin is being used on adults in India’s ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive since January 16 this year.

The government last week cautioned that even though Covid-19 has not taken a serious shape among children till now, its impact can increase among them if there is a change in virus behaviour or epidemiology dynamics, and said preparations are being strengthened to deal with any such situation.

With the fear of a third Covid-19 wave looming large, some experts have raised concerns that a proportionately higher number of children will be infected in the next wave.

Till July 23, India has administered over 42 crore doses of vaccines and the government aims to vaccinate all adults by the end of this year.

NOTE: Asianet News humbly requests everyone to wear masks, sanitize, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated as soon as eligible. Together we can and will break the chain #ANCares #IndiaFightsCorona

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