Bharat Biotech Asks Healthcare Workers to Remain “Highly Vigilant” in Administering Jabs to Adolescents
NEW DELHI, Jan 18: Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech on Tuesday urged healthcare workers to be ‘highly vigilant’ while administering jabs to teenagers aged 15 to 18.
Citing what it said were ‘additional reports’ stating that beneficiaries in the said age group were being jabbed with ‘unapproved Covid-19 vaccines,’ company which has developed “Covaxin” being administered to the adolescents, said, “We humbly request healthcare workers to ensure that only Covaxin is administered to individuals in the 15-18 years age group.” Covaxin received approval based on thorough clinical trial evaluation for safety and immunogenicity in the 2-18 years age group. Currently, it is the only Covid-19 vaccine in India approved for children.
This is for the second time when the company has issued such a statement; on January 7, it had for the first time urged hospital staff to ensure only Covaxin is being administered to teenagers, vaccination for whom kicked off on January 3, as announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in an address to the nation on December 25.
At present, only Covaxin and Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D have been approved for age groups below 18 but presently only Covaxin is being used to inoculate beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group. Covaxin had received DCGI’s nod on December 25, just hours before Modi’s impromptu national address.
Union health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Tuesday that more than 50 per cent youngsters in the 15-18 age group have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
(Manas Dasgupta)
