Covid vaccine for children in India by September, says ICMR-NIV director

India is likely to have an indigenous Covid-19 vaccine for children by September, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)'s National Institute of Virology (Pune) director Priya Abraham has said amid the ongoing phase II and III trials of Covaxin for the 2-18 age group.

ICMR and Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech co-developed Covaxin, India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine. Covaxin is one of the three vaccines being administered in India under the national Covid-19 immunisation programme. The other two are Serum Institute of India's Covishield, and the Russian Sputnik V.

The Drugs Controller General of India approved Covaxin for emergency use in the country in January. Another Covid-19 vaccine that, if approved, can be administered to children is Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D. The application for the grant of emergency use authorisation for it is pending before the controller.

"...Zydus Cadila's vaccine trial is also going on. This can also be applied for children and will be made available," said Abraham. She said studies on booster dose have been going on overseas and at least seven different vaccines have been tried for it. "Now, WHO (World Health Organisation) has put a stop to it till more countries catch up with vaccination. This is because there is an alarming vaccine gap between high-income and low-income countries. But, in future, recommendations for boosters will definitely come."

Abraham said there were no safety concerns regarding the mixing of different Covid-19 vaccines. "There was a situation where inadvertently two different vaccines were given in two doses. We have tested those samples at NIV (National Institute of Virology) and found that the patients who received different vaccines in two doses were safe. No adverse effect was noted, and immunogenicity was a little better. So, it is definitely not something which will cause a safety issue." She said they were studying this phenomenon and will be able to give more details in a few days.

Abraham reiterated vaccination is a must and the studies done at NIV have shown the vaccines in use do work against the variants, citing the antibodies produced in the bodies of vaccinated people. She said it has been found that efficacy of antibodies has been reduced two to three folds in case of variants.