NEW DELHI: The drug regulator's expert committee on Covid vaccines has recommended emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Serum Institute of India's Covovax for use in the age group of 12-17 years, official sources said.
The development assumes significance as it forms a basis for approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), which in turn will expand the basket of approved Covid jabs for youngsters and may also prompt the government to lower the age limit for Covid vaccination to 12 years.
Currently, only those above 15 years of age are eligible for Covid vaccination.
Once approved by the regulator, Covovax will be the fourth jab approved for adolescents of 12-17 years age. So far, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D and Biological E’s Corbevax have received emergency authorisation for use in adolescents.
However, at present, Covaxin is the only vaccine being administered to adolescents of 15-17 years.
While the government maintains that any decision to expand the vaccination programme to other population groups will be based on scientific decision, availability of vaccines has also been a major decisive factor for the same.
With limited production of Covaxin, expansion of the programme to other age groups has been a challenge for the government.
