E-Paper
Trials of Covid-19 vaccine on children to begin soon in India: Sitharaman
The company, which has offered 5 crore doses to India between July and October, recently held a series of interactions with Indian government authorities.
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Thursday that trials of Covid-19 on children will begin soon in India. She further said that the World health Organization (WHO) has no recommendation on vaccinating children, and no country is conducting these tests.
"As of now, no country in the world is giving vaccines to children. WHO has no recommendation on vaccinating children. Trials on children in India are going to begin soon. The decision is to be taken by scientists after data is available based on trials," Sitharaman tweeted.
The finance minister also shared a release where the government busted seven myths around its handling of the coronavirus disease situation. Sitharaman added a clarification given by Niti Aayog member Dr VK Paul where he said that trials on children are at lower priority because of the risk involved.
"When any drug/vaccine is discovered, typically it is first sorted out in the adult population because you do not want to risk children," Dr Paul said in the tweet thread shared by Sitharaman in which he is speaking to news agency ANI.
"If we go with the paradigm of deaths as a public health objective, it's a lower priority," he further said.
Amid a debate around inoculating children for the deadly infection, Dr Paul said that the vaccine developed by American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer can be administered to the younger population.
He also said that the government has been pursuing Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna since mid-2020 for the earliest possible imports, and has even waived local trials for well-established foreign vaccine makers.
Pfizer has told Indian authorities that its vaccine is suitable for everyone aged 12 years or above and can be stored for a month at 2-8 degrees Celsius.
The company, which has offered 5 crore doses to India between July and October, recently held a series of interactions with Indian government authorities.
It shared with authorities the most recent data points regarding efficacy trials and approvals for its vaccine in various countries and by the WHO.
