Explained | India’s vaccination programme for minors

What is the status of clinial trials on those aged below 18 years? Which other countries have approved COVID vaccinations for children?

: Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that beginning January 3, . Boosters would also be available for health-care workers, frontline workers and those over 60 with co-morbidities on a doctor’s prescription.

Mr. Modi’s announcement came minutes after an approval by the Drugs Controller General of India for . This makes it the second Indian vaccine after , a DNA plasmid vaccine, to be approved for those above 12. ZyCoV-D, by Zydus Cadilla, is a three-dose combination whereas Covaxin by Bharat Biotech is a two-dose vaccine to be administered four weeks apart. A major difference is that ZyCoV-D inspite of being cleared in late August is not available in the market whereas Covaxin has been around for nearly a year. The company also says that being an inactivated whole virion vaccine, the dosage for children is the same as those for adults.