When Will Govt Begin Covid Vaccination of 5-12-year-olds? Read Health Ministry’s Statement Here

The Ministry of Health will wait for recommendation from the Covid working group of NTAGI to begin the vaccination of kids aged 5 to 12.

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health will wait for the recommendation from the Covid working group of NTAGI to begin the vaccination of kids aged 5 to 12, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday. The national drugs regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), has recently given emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children between the age group of 6-12 amid the rising cases of covid in schools.

The apex drug regulator has also given nod to Pharma major Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D vaccine for use in children above 12 years. A Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the DCGI had last week asked Bharat Biotech for additional data on Covaxin, for administering it to children aged below 12. According to the reports, the SEC, after a meeting last week, had recommended restricted emergency use of Biological E’s Corbevax vaccine to children in the age group of 5-12.

Mandaviya had earlier said that India’s fight against Covid-19 has become stronger with the recent approvals. The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 years on 16 March.

Gap between 2nd Covid jab, booster to be reduced to 6 months: Report

With an aim to contain the concerning surge in the covid cases, the Modi government is mulling reducing the gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the precaution dose from the current nine months to six months.

According to a PTI report quoting official sources, a recommendation on lessening the gap is expected to be made by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) which is set to hold a meeting on April 29.

“Taking into account the scientific evidence and findings of the studies done here and internationally, the gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the precaution dose will most likely be reduced from the current nine months to six months soon. A final decision will be taken based on the recommendations by the NTAGI which is set to meet on Friday,” a source in the know of the developments told PTI.

India Records 3,303 COVID-19 Cases, 39 Deaths

In another major spike in cases, India on Thursday logged 3,303 fresh COVID-19 patients taking its tally to 4,30,68,799, while the active cases increased to 16,980, according to Union health ministry data. The daily cases crossed the 3,000-mark after 46 days.

The death toll due to COVID-19 climbed to 5,23,693 with 39 more fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 0.04 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said.

An increase of 701 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.