Johnson & Johnson (J&J) of the United States has asked the Indian medicines authority for approval to test its Covid-19 vaccine on youngsters aged 12 to 17, joining a slew of other companies attempting to immunize children against a disease that has killed 433,589 people in the nation.
On Friday, the company said that it has submitted an application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) to perform a trial on August 17.
According to studies, the J&J vaccination has a 66 percent efficacy against mild to severe Covid-19 and an 85 percent efficacy against severe instances.
“Johnson & Johnson is dedicated to ensuring worldwide equitable access to its COVID-19 vaccination and recognizes the unmet needs of children,” a spokesman for the firm stated.
“It is important that COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials continue in this demographic to attain herd immunity, and we remain strongly dedicated to the critical work needed to make our COVID-19 vaccine equally available for all age groups,” the spokesman added.
Previously, the firm requested emergency use authorization (EUA) for its single-shot vaccination in India. Johnson & Johnson’s Indian vaccine production partner is Hyderabad-based Biological E.Zydus Cadila has provided vaccination data for children over the age of 12.
The Serum Institute of India will undertake pediatric studies for the Novavax vaccine candidate. Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Health Minister, stated on Thursday that Covid-19 vaccinations for children will be available “very soon.” Bharat Biotech is testing the Covaxin vaccine on youngsters as young as two years old.
| Vaccine | Stage of development |
| Pfizer-BioNTech (US) | Administered to ages 12-plus; trials on for children aged 5 to 11; not available in India yet |
| Moderna (US) | Administered to ages 12-plus; trials on for children aged 5 to 11; not available in India yet |
| Zydus Cadila (India) | Trials were done on 12-plus; I Will start trials on 5-plus |
| Bharat Biotech (India) | Trials were done on 12-plus; trials on for 2-plus |
| Sinovac (China) | Approved for ages 3-17; not available in India |
| Sinopharm (China) | Approved for ages 3-17; not available in India |
| Sputnik V (Russia) | Nasal vaccine trials on children are ongoing in Russia. Expected to be over by Sept-Oct, 2021 |
| Covovax (Novavax candidate) US | Trials to start on children 2 years and above in India |
(All source- Business Standard)
