BENGALURU: From January 3, Covaxin will be administered to the paediatric population aged between 15 and 18 years. Doctors say Covaxin has so far shown minimal effects in adults, and the public can expect mild reactions in children, such as pain at the injection site, mild fever, body ache, swelling, etc, similar to what was seen in adults.
“No adverse events have been reported. However, whenever any vaccine is administered, Anaphylaxis (adverse effects) can be expected. The state and central governments, as well as pediatricians, experienced this when they undertook the MR (Measles Rubella) vaccination campaign.
Hence, all health workers are trained and well-equipped for such an event,” said Dr Basavaraj GV, Professor of Paediatrics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. Adverse reactions include skin rashes, breathing difficulty, low BP, pain in abdomen, vomiting, which so far has not been seen in Covaxin.
Beneficiaries are usually made to wait for 30 minutes at the vaccination site to address any such reactions. These are rare, and intramuscular adrenaline injections are administered immediately to reverse the reaction We have the technology of killed vaccines since the past 100 years, and it’s time-tested. Most of these killed vaccines do not elicit major side-effects and are unlikely with Covaxin, when administered to children, pointed out Dr Srikanta J T, Consultant - Paediatric Interventional Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Aster CMI Hospital.
“Fever and body ache can be expected. However, there is not a lot of data published by the government on vaccine efficacy and side-effects, but because we deal with a lot of killed vaccines, we know the side-effects are limited. No deaths have been reported until now. Hopefully, it will not be a major problem henceforth,” Dr Srikanta added.
Bharat Biotech, the maker of Covaxin, in its fact-sheet announced at the beginning of India’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign, that side-effects include injection site pain, swelling, redness, itching, headache, fever, body ache, nausea, vomiting and rashes. Their factsheet also said that severe allergic reaction, and side-effects may occur.