COVID Vaccine Covovax for Children in Jan-Feb

The CEO of Serum Institute of India hopes that another COVID vaccine that is being developed by the Institute may be launched in October for adults and for children by January-February next year.

Adar Poonawala, the CEO of Serum Institute of India hopes that another COVID vaccine that is being developed by the Institute may be launched in October for adults and for children by January-February next year.

Poonawala, who met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Parliament for 30 minutes on Friday evening, said "We are very thankful to the government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for their support for improving and helping our industry to scale up vaccine manufacturing."

COVID-19 Vaccination in India: Issues and Challenges
India’s COVID-19 vaccination program has been launched. It currently uses the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. There are some issues and challenges that need to be overcome in order to vaccinate all Indians.

He added that his company is always trying to expand its Covishield production capacity to meet the demand.

"The Covovax vaccine for kids will be launched in the first quarter of next year, most likely in January-February," said Poonawala.

He also thanked the government for its support to Serum Institute and sounded hopeful that Covovax will be launched for adults in October, depending on approvals from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

Test your Knowledge on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Coronavirus is a large positive-strand RNA virus that is surrounded by a protein envelope. The virus obtains its name from the S protein spikes on its surface, which resemble a crown. The overall pattern of increasing coronavirus cases is shown to spike up with the “second wave” of COVID-19.

With spiking effects of the second wave of coronavirus, the best way to keep it at bay is to follow COVID-appropriate safety practices like wearing a mask, regularly cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue along with physical distancing (6 feet about 2 arm's length), that may help evade the severity of COVID-19 infection.

Earlier in the day, the Serum Institute CEO met Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and discussed the Covishield supply and scaling up production in India.

Covid Vaccine Reduces Infection by 93%
Covishield vaccine gives 93 percent protection against new Covid infections and helps in even reducing the death rate by 98 percent.

In return, Mandaviya assured the government's support in Covishield production to combat the Covid pandemic.

Source-IANS

Pfizer COVID Vaccine Approved For Australians Aged 12-15
Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for children aged 12 to 15 years. It makes it the first coronavirus vaccine approved for individuals younger than 16 in Australia.

TOP INSIGHT

The government has informed that 44.42 crore doses of Covishield have been supplied by the Serum Institute of India while 6.82 crore doses of Covaxin have been supplied by the Bharat Biotech International Limited for the National Covid Vaccination Programme from January 16 to August 5.