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India: Covid jab for kids to pave way for school reopening, says AIIMS chief

New Delhi - Though children have mild infections of Covid and some even are asymptomatic, they can be carriers of the infection.

Making the Covid-19 vaccine available for children will be a milestone achievement and pave the way for reopening of schools and resumption of outdoor activities for them, AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria has said.

He said the data of phase two and three trial of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on the two to 18 years age group is expected by September.

The vaccine can be available for children in India around that time following approval from the drug regulator, he said.

"If the Pfizer vaccine gets approval before that, then it can also be an option for children," Dr Guleria told PTI on Saturday.

According to a senior government official, pharmaceutical major Zydus Cadila is also likely to soon apply to the Drugs Controller General of India for emergency use authorisation for its Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D, which it claims can be given to both adults and children.

"So, if the Zydus vaccine gets approval, it will be another option," Dr Guleria said. He stressed that though children mostly have mild infections of Covid-19 and some even are asymptomatic, they can be carriers of the infection.

Underscoring that there has been a major loss in studies in the last one-and-half years on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the AIIMS chief said, "Schools have to be reopened and vaccination can play an important role in that."