Another name is going to join the vaccination campaign against Coronavirus in India. Novavax has been approved for emergency use for ages 12-18. Novovax itself made this announcement on Tuesday. This vaccine has been produced at Pune Serum Institute of India. The vaccination campaign for the 12-14 age group has started in the country only last week.
The Novavax vaccine is also known as NVX-CoV2373. SII has produced it in India under the name Kovovax. This is the country’s first protein-based vaccine to be given to the 12-18 age group. The Drugs Controller General of India has issued approval for giving Kovovax in case of emergency to people in the age group of 12-18 years.
Stanley C. Erck, President and CEO, Novavax, said: “Given the efficacy and safety data in this population, we are proud of this first approval in adolescents. And our COVID-19 vaccine will provide an alternative to a protein-based vaccine for people aged 12 years and above. SII CEO Adar Poonawalla has expressed happiness over the approval of this vaccine. He said, ‘We are proud to provide safe protein based COVID-19 vaccine to the adolescents of our country.’
Notably, DCGI approved Kovovax for emergency use in December for adults. Apart from this, Kovovax has also got a place in the Emergency Use Listing from the World Health Organization.
What is the status of vaccination in India
Till 7 am on Wednesday, March 23, a total of 181 crore 89 lakh 15 thousand 234 doses have been given in the country. Of these, the number of ‘precautionary doses’ is 2 crore 20 lakh 10 thousand 777. As per the statistics, Uttar Pradesh is at the forefront of vaccination. More than 29 crore doses have been given in the state.