Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Partnership summit on Tuesday, the CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), Adar Poonawala announced that a covid vaccine for children
will be launched in six months.
As the Omicron cases slowly rise in India, Mr Poonawala added that "India is now well prepared to deal with such catastrophes."
The event was organised in association with the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
In the next six months, the Pune-based vaccine manufacturer will launch the US biotechnology company Novavax's covid vaccine, which Serum institute will produce and manufacture locally
as Covovax.
“Our Covovax vaccine, which is under trial and has shown excellent data all the way down to the age group of three years, will be launched in six months,” said the SII CEO.
"Hopefully, the worst is behind for all of us. The Indian government has been working to develop an effective healthcare system and has set aside sufficient funds for hospital beds
and oxygen," said Poonawala at the event.
He went on to say that despite the multibillion-dollar investment in developing and manufacturing the Covid-19 vaccine, the journey thus far has given us some important lessons due to the
constantly changing situation caused by the evolving virus.
Poonawala stated that they are working on developing a more effective vaccine booster shot for the Omicron virus. "It is safe to conclude that booster vaccines are a proven strategy
to get antibodies up to a large level,” the CEO noted. "Multilateral organisations and governments should be able to quickly identify and isolate new mutations, as well as determine the efficacy of vaccines against
them," he added.
Talking about the Covovax children's vaccine, he said that "SII has entered the trial phase of the vaccine for children aged 3 and should be available within the next 6 months."
Other covid vaccines for children
A second vaccine, Covaxin from Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited, has also been recommended by DCGI's expert panel for children aged 2 to 18.
The Union administration,
on the other hand, informed Parliament that "further information from developers has been sought before a final nod is given."