Bharath Biotech vaccine approved for trial on children above 12 years, Covishield above age 18

Bharat Biotech’s anti-coronavirus vaccine ‘Covaxin’, which received emergency approval for administration from India’s central drug authority on January 4, has been given the permission to conduct its trials on children above the age of 12 years by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine ‘Covishied’, manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), which too received the emergency approval along with the Bharat Biotech vaccine, has been approved for trials on children above the age of 18.

The permission to both the vaccines — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Serum Institute’s ‘Covishield’ — has been granted for restricted use in emergency situations. Both the vaccines will be administered in two doses, the DCGi said in the permission letter.

India had given the formal approval for the Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech anti-coronavirus vaccines, saying they will be administered in two dosages each. VG Somani of DCGI said both the firms have been granted permission for “restricted use” in emergency situations.