India is going to get another biggest weapon in the war against Corona. India may soon start immunization of children above the age of 12 years. Bengaluru-based pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila has sought approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use of its DNA vaccine. If this vaccine is approved, then immunization of 12+ children can be started in the country.
The company said that it has conducted clinical trials for its Covid-19 vaccine in more than 50 centers in India so far. Phase III trial of Zydus Cadila vaccine has been completed. This trial has been done on more than 28,000 volunteers. Clinical trials show that the vaccine is safe for children. The company has given the trial data to DCGI. After getting permission for emergency use, immunization of children 12-18 years of age can start by the end of July or from the first week in August.
There will be three doses of DNA-plasmid based ‘Xycov-D’ vaccine. It can be kept at a temperature of two to four degrees Celsius and there will be no need for cold chain. With this, its consignment can be easily transported to any part of the country. The vaccine has been supported by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) under the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), an undertaking under the Department of Biotechnology.
Let us tell you that the corona vaccination program is going on fast across the country. The corona vaccination program was started in India earlier this year on 16 January. Since then, a total of 33 crore 57 lakh doses have been given. In which 27 crore 60 lakh people have been given the first dose of corona vaccine and 5 crore 96 lakh people have been given the second dose of corona vaccine.