AIIMS Delhi to begin screening children for Covaxin trials from today
The paediatric trials for Covaxin in AIIMS Patna started last Tuesday.
The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, will start screening children for clinical trials of indigenous home-grown COVID-19 vaccine, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, from Monday, news agency ANI said, citing sources.
This development comes days after AIIMS Patna started a similar trial. After getting permission from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), AIIMS, Delhi is now starting the screening for clinical trials before starting the trials.
The paediatric trials for Covaxin started in AIIMS Patna last Tuesday after Bharat Biotech's vaccine received DCGI nod on May 11 to conduct clinical trials on children.
"We are commencing the trails today in the reverse order of age from today. Children in the 12 to 18 years age group will be given shots first. We will then proceed with the 6 to 12 years age category before inoculating children in the 2 to 6 years age bracket," said AIIMS Patna superintendent and the principal trial investigator Dr CM Singh.
Dr VK Paul, a senior NITI Aayog member, last month said the phase 2/3 trials will be conducted on children aged between two and 18. The Centre had given its clearance to the clinical trials on May 12.
The trial of Bharat Biotech's Covid vaccine (Covaxin) will be conducted in 525 healthy volunteers at different sites across the country.
The clinical trials involve two Covid-19 vaccine shots injected on day 0 and day 28.
India has three Covid-19 vaccine - Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, AstraZeneca's Covishield and Russia's Sputnik V. Covaxin and Covishield are being manufactured in India.
The third phase of the vaccination started on May 1 for the beneficiary aged between 18-44.