Fake news alert! Centre rubbishes report suggesting Covaxin approved for children above 12 years

New Delhi: As soon as the Centre announced the third phase of COVID-19 vaccination, under which people aging above 18 to 45 became eligible for inoculation, the citizens couldn't help but eagerly wait for the government to allow COVID-19 vaccination for children as well.

Amid all this, an infographic claiming that the government has approved Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above the age of 12, is doing rounds on social media platforms. 

The Centre rubbished the report on Sunday (May 9, 2021). The government, in a tweet, shared a screengrab of the fake message and posted it along with this caption:  

"A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years. #PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India. Currently, citizens above the age of 18 are eligible for #COVID19Vaccination."

A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years.#PIBFactCheck: This claim is #Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India. Currently, citizens above the age of 18 are eligible for #COVID19Vaccination pic.twitter.com/qdzBSfwllq

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 9, 2021

The clarification by the central government came via the Press Information Bureau (PIB) official fact check handle on Twitter. 

The second phase of deadly coronavirus has left parents worried, as India has been recording over four lakh fresh COVID-19 cases everyday and its daily death rate is at all time high. 

Adding to the worry for the parents, many reports have quoted medical experts saying that the third wave of COVID-19 is due and is going to be dangerous for children.

Principal Scientific Adviser to the government K Vijay Raghavan has said, “Phase three is inevitable given the higher levels of circulating virus, but it is not clear on what time-scale this phase three will occur. We should be prepared for new waves.”

According to experts, the first wave of the virus attacked the elderly, in the second wave more youth are affected and the third wave can be dangerous for children.

Meanwhile, the Centre has liberalised the phase three of COVID-19 vaccination drive, by allowing the states and private hospitals to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.