NEW DELHI: An expert panel of the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Serum Institute of India’s Covid-19 vaccine Covovax for the 12-17 age group, officials said Friday.
The DCGI had approved Covovax for restricted use in emergency situations in adults on December 28 last year. It is yet to be used in India’s vaccination drive. The subject expert committee has given its recommendation to the DCGI for approval, officials added. At the moment, India is using only Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to vaccinate children between 15-18 years.
The Pune-based pharma company had last month had submitted an application to the DCGI seeking for restricted emergency use of Covovax in adolescents. The SII has been developing Covovax through a technology transfer protocol from Novavax, already approved by the European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing authorisation.