Novavax Vaccine Gets DCGI Approval To Be Authorised To 12 Year Olds And Above In India: Report

Novavax Inc's Covid-19 vaccine has received the emergency-use authorisation from the Drugs and Controller General of India (DCGI) for children aged between 12-17 years.

The vaccine is made and marketed in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under the brand name Covovax.

In a last-stage trial involving 2247 teenagers aged 12-17, the vaccine proved out to be 80 per cent effective against Covid-19, Reuters reports.

The vaccine shot has evoked an immune response in the same age group in a late-stage study that involved 460 Indian adolescents.

So far, Biological E's Corbevax, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and the ZyCov-D of Zydus Cadila have received the DCGI approval to be authorised to adolescents aged 12 and above.

Prior to this, the shots were only being given to 15-year-olds and above.

The SII-made Covovax had obtained the DCGI permission to be authorised to adults back in December 2021.

In February, India achieved the milestone of administering 175 crore vaccine doses. The inoculation drive is now being expanded to the young children of the country.