Protecting youth: on COVID-19 vaccines and booster shots for children

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has said that it will be ready with vaccines for children in the next six months. This follows claims earlier this year that it would be ready for adults by October along with the vaccine, Kovovax; But, so far, no approval has been received from the Drug Controller General of India. Covovax is the SII brand name for Novavax, which is a subsidiary of US-based Novavax Inc. is a recombinant nanoparticle protein-based vaccine developed by the U.S., and will be an important vaccine to watch as it rolls out of the SII stable, which is in place today. At least 90% of the 1.3 billion vaccines have found their way into the arms of Indians. While Covaxin by Bharat Biotech was hastily approved by the Indian authorities, unfortunately it has not been developed well enough to make a substantial contribution to India’s vaccination programme. India has now vaccinated 80% of its adults with at least one dose and given that many have already been exposed to the virus, this number is a fairly credible achievement in itself, even if it is not entirely lower than the government’s initial claim of vaccination. All adults by the end of the year.

However, Omicron has complicated matters. Said to be the most contagious of all types, health experts in many countries are warning of a ‘tidal wave’ of infections towards the end of the year as well as in the first quarter of 2022. Because the variant contains several mutations that allow the virus to evade antibodies, the prediction is that many – despite vaccination – may experience successful infection or re-infection. Viewed this way, it is also a sign of loss for children as many have resumed schooling individually and the inevitable congregation makes them targets of infection. India has not yet approved vaccines for children and is reportedly considering trial data submitted by Bharat Biotech on trials conducted on children. The technical committee has also not authorized the booster and the rationale is clearly that the dose should be prioritized for adults who have not yet been vaccinated. Several new vaccines, ZycoV-D, Gennova, Sputnik V, Corbevax were already available in September as estimated by the center and some of them are also testing versions in children, but, as Covaxin’s experience shows, Turns out, this is one for testing and developing a vaccine and one more for quickly scaling up. The government should step up efforts to curtail the supply.