Covid vaccination of children in 12-14 age group begins tomorrow

The government on Monday said Covid-19 vaccination of children in the age group of 12-14 years will begin from Wednesday.

All those born in 2008, 2009 and 2010 will be administered the Corbevax vaccine manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological E.

The decision to start vaccination for the 12-14 age group was taken after due deliberations with scientific bodies, the health ministry said.

Biological E had on February 21 received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the drug regulator for their Covid-19 vaccine for the 12-18 age group. The Union government had made an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore in June 2021 for reserving 30 crore doses of Corbevax, the country’s first indigenously developed receptor binding domain protein sub-unit vaccine against Covid-19.

Corbevax has also been granted approval to conduct trials on children up to 5 years old.

Corbevax is administered through the intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days apart and is stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius. It is available in 0.5 ml (single dose), 5 ml (10 doses) vial and 10 ml (20 doses) vial pack.

Children above 14 years of age are already being vaccinated. The government has so far administered 9.01 crore doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in the 15-17 age group.