DCGI Approves 4th COVID Vaccine For Emergency Use Among Those Under-18

Picture courtesy The Indian Express

New Delhi: The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted emergency use authorization to the COVID-19 vaccine Covovax for 12-17 years age group, PTI reported on Wednesday quoting official sources.

Covovax, the Indian version of US-developed Novavax, is manufactured in this country by Serun Institute of India.

It is the fourth COVID vaccine to receive regulator’s nod for use among under-18 age group.

The other three are Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which is being used to vaccinate those aged between 15 and 18 years after getting clearance last December; Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D which became the first one to be cleared by DCGI for those above 12 in August 2021; Biological E’s Corbevax for 12-18 years approved last month.

DCGI gave the nod to Covovax for emergency use authorization among adults on December 28, 2021, but it’s yet to be included in India’s vaccination drive.