Vaccine for 12+: Zydus may seek licence in 2 weeks

NEW DELHI: Ahmedabadbased Zydus Cadila is testing its Covid-19 vaccine candidate on children of 12-18 years, apart from adults, and the company is likely to apply for licensure of the vaccine in next two weeks, a government official said.
At present, those under 18 are not eligible for anti-Covid vaccine shots. Besides Zydus, Bharat Biotech is also conducting clinical trials with Covaxin in children. “When Zydus comes for licensure, hopefully in the next two weeks, maybe we will have enough data to take a view whether the vaccine can be given to children,” Niti Aayog member Dr V K Paul said.
Asked if Pfizer’s anti-Covid vaccine, when available in India, will be considered for children, Paul said India is readying its own vaccines for children. “...this itself is about 13 to 14 crore population for which we will need about 25 crore doses. We cannot have some people getting (it) and others not,” he said.