India has given over42 crore doses of vaccines so far. Indian government aims to vaccinate alladult population by the end of this year.
"I think Zydushas already done the trials and they're waiting for the emergencyauthorisation. The Bharat Biotech's Covaxin trials should be over by August orSeptember, and by that time we should get an approval. Pfizer vaccine has beenalready approved by the FDA (US regulator - Food and Drug Administration).Hopefully, by September, we should start vaccinating children, and that will bea big boost as far as breaking the chain of transmission is concerned," DrGuleria said.
He said further, “Weshould then start schools in a graded manner… (vaccines) will give moreprotection to kids and more confidence to the public that children are safe.”
"We need to getour own vaccines too - that's why both Bharat Biotech and Zydus are important.Getting the Pfizer vaccine will also be helpful, as there is enough data tosuggest its safe... but we can't be sure if we will get required numbers. Wewill hopefully have more than one vaccine for children by September," headded further.
Earlier thismonth, Dr NK Arora, who heads the National Expert Group on VaccineAdministration, had told in an interview that vaccination for children willstart by September with the Zydus vaccine for 12 to 18-year-olds.
In India, BharatBiotech's Covaxin and Zydus Cadila's candidate are in the trial phase. Thecountry is currently vaccinating its adult population.