The COVID-19 vaccine for children is expected to be ready by September. In an interview with India Science, the OTT channel of the Department of Science & Technology, Priya Abraham, Director of ICMR-NIV said that presently, Phase II and III trials of COVAXIN are going on for children in the age group of 2-18 years.
"Hopefully, the results 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. This apart, Zydus Cadila's vaccine trial is also going on. This can also be applied for children and will be made available," she said as reported by Times Now.
Abraham said that besides Zydus Cadila, Genova, which is an mRNA vaccine, Biological E and Novavax are in the pipeline. Last month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said that the COVID-19 vaccine for children was expected to be ready soon. He, however, did not give a specific date or timeline for the rolling out of the vaccine for children. So far, only those above 18 years of age are allowed to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
Meanwhile, commenting on the Delta Plus variant and the efficiency of existing vaccines against it, Abraham said that the Delta Plus variant is unlikely to spread more than the Delta variant. She further added that the antibodies in vaccinated people were checked against the Delta Plus variant and it was found that they had reduced two-three fold.
"Yet, the vaccines are still protective against the variants… So, whatever the variant, the vaccine is till now protective against all, including the Delta variant. So, there should not be any hesitancy at all," she said.