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Expert panel nod to Covaxin for kids between 2-18 years

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has given a recommendation to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the use of Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin for beneficiaries aged between 2-18 years, official sources said. After the evaluation of data, Covaxin is yet to get approval by the DCGI for children between 2-18 years old, […]

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has given a recommendation to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for the use of Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin for beneficiaries aged between 2-18 years, official sources said.

After the evaluation of data, Covaxin is yet to get approval by the DCGI for children between 2-18 years old, according to the sources. Bharat Biotech, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said it had submitted data from clinical trials in the 2-18 years age group for Covaxin (BBV152) to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). “The data has been thoroughly reviewed by the CDSCO and SEC has provided their positive recommendations,” the company said.

“This represents one of the first approvals worldwide for Covid-19 vaccines for the 2-18 age group. Bharat Biotech sincerely thanks the DCGI, SEC and CDSCO for their expedited review process. We now await further regulatory approvals from the CDSCO prior to product launch and market availability of Covaxin for children,” Bharat Biotech said.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharati Pravin Pawar on Tuesday said that evaluation of Covid-19 vaccine for children is under progress. She said the vaccine will be launched after taking the opinion of experts and approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI). “Work and evaluation is going on. Discussions are going on with the expert committee after which there will be a review. DGCI has not approved. Experts will give their recommendation and only then the vaccine will come and whenever it comes, you will come to know that,” she said. “The process is on and we don’t interfere in this matter. Will go ahead after discussions with experts,” the minister said.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday informed that 97,00,24,165 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, through all sources. According to the health ministry, 8,22,69,545 balance and unutilized Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered. “The Union Government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of Covid-19 vaccination throughout the country. The new phase of universalization of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from 21 June 2021,” it said.

The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them Covid-19 vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the Covid-19 vaccination drive, the Central government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75% of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to states and union territories.

India reported 14,313 new Covid-19 cases and 181 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry Informed on Tuesday. Of these, Kerala reported 6,996 Covid-19 cases and 84 deaths in the last 24 hours. According to the ministry, the cumulative Covid-19 cases in the country stand at 3,39,85,920, while 4,50,963 people have succumbed to the infection so far. There are 2,14,900 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, the ministry said.

As many as 26,579 recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours taking the recovery tally to 3,33,20,057. The recovery rate in the country currently stands at 98.04 per cent, which is the highest since March 2020. The weekly positivity rate stands at 1.48%, while the daily positivity rate is at 1.21%. Meanwhile, India conducted as many as 11,81,766 Covid-19 tests in the last 24 hours taking the total Covid-19 tests conducted to 58,50,38,043.

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