Covovax now available for children in India: Adar Poonawalla

NEW DELHI: Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday said that the Covid vaccine Covovax is now available in India for children. He also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his vision of providing another vaccine for children.

Covovax (Novavax), is now available for children in India. This is the only vaccine manufactured in India that is also sold in Europe and has an efficacy of 90 per cent. This is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of providing yet another vaccine to protect our children," he said in a tweet.

Last week, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) approved the Serum Institute of India's Covovax Covid vaccine for the age group 12-17.

However, the Drugs Controller General of India's (DCGI) subject expert committee has sought more data from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) on the Covovax vaccine for the age group of 7-12 years.

Covid vaccination for minors in India started from January 3 onwards for those in the 15-18 age group with Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

The drive later expanded on March 16 to include children aged above 12 for Biological E's Corbevax.