India likely to get coronavirus vaccine for children by September this year

New Delhi : Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)'s National Institute of Virology (Pune) director Priya Abraham has said that India is on its way to get indigenous Covid-19 vaccine for children by September. The statement comes at a time when phase II and III trials of Covaxin for the 2-18 age group are going on.

"Hopefully, the results (of the trials) are going to be available very soon. The results will be presented to the regulators. So, by September or just after it, we may have Covid-19 vaccines for children," Abraham said in an interview to India Science, an OTT channel of the science and technology department.

Earlier, the Drugs Controller General of India had approved Covaxin for emergency use in January. India may have second vaccine, developed by Zydus, the application of which for the grant of emergency use is pending before the controller.

"Zydus Cadila's vaccine will be the first DNA vaccine which will be available for use. Besides, there is Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd’s m-RNA vaccine, Biological-E vaccine, Serum Institute of India’s Novovax and, another interesting one – an intra-nasal vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited. This vaccine does not require a jab and can be delivered through nostrils."