Covid vaccination drive for kids aged 12-14: Know which vaccine will be given to your child

NEW DELHI: Corbevax vaccine manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological E Limited will be administered to children aged between 12-14 years age as vaccination for them begins from Wednesday (March 16, 2022).

The Corbevax vaccine is administered through an intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days apart and is stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius temperature.

Corbevax is being billed as India's first homegrown "receptor-binding domain protein sub-unit vaccine against COVID-19". A receptor-binding domain is a key part of a virus located on its "spike" domain that allows it to dock to body receptors to enter and infect cells. These are also the primary targets in the prevention and treatment of viral infections.

The Union Health Ministry said that after due deliberations with scientific bodies, it has been decided to start Covid-19 vaccination for 12-13 year and 13-14 year age groups (those born in 2008, 2009 and 2010 ie those who are already above 12 years of age) of the population from March 16, 2022.

According to official sources, around 7.11 crore children will be vaccinated under the new age group. Biological E Ltd has supplied 5 crore doses of Corbevax to the Centre and the vaccine has been distributed to states, sources said.

Though the Centre has not given any specific reason behind the decision to use only Corbevax for this age group, experts like Gagandeep Kang, microbiologist and professor at Christian Medical College, Vellore said Corbevax is understood to be safe.

It may be noted that children aged 15 to 17 years are already being administered only Covaxin, the inactivated virus based vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech.

The announcement regarding Covid vaccination for kids was made at a time when schools across the country are opening up given the considerable decline in the Covid-19 cases.

A handful of vaccines have been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for use in children above 12 years – Covovax (the Novavax vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute of India), ZyCoV-D (Zydus Lifesciences), and Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) apart from Biological E’s receptor-binding domain (RBD) protein subunit vaccine Corbevax.

Last September, Biological E received approval to conduct a Phase II/III clinical trial on Corbevax in children and adolescents aged 5 to 18 years. Based on the no-objection certificate, Biological E initiated the clinical study in October 2021 and evaluated the available safety and immunogenicity results of the ongoing phase II/III study, which indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic.

Meanwhile, the Centre has also decided that the condition of comorbidity for Covid-19 precaution dose for population over 60 years of age will be removed forthwith.