EUA for Corbevax for 5 to 11 years recommended

New Delhi: An expert panel of India's central drug authority has recommended granting emergency use authorisation for Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for children in the five to 11 years age group with certain conditions, official sources said on Thursday.

The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO has, on the other hand, sought more data from Bharat Biotech to review its emergency use authorisation (EUA) application for use of Covaxin among those aged two to 11 years, they said.

The SEC has also recommended the grant of emergency use authorisation (EUA) to Cadila for their ZyCoV-D vaccine for an additional dose of 3mg with a two-jab inoculation schedule 28 days apart for those aged 12 years and above, another source said.

Presently, ZyCoV-D is approved for a 2mg three-dose vaccination schedule.

Biological E's Corbevax is being used to inoculate children against COVID-19 in the age group of 12 to 14 years. Covaxin has been granted Emergency Use Listing by the DCGI for the age group of 12 to 18 years on December 24, 2021. An official source on Thursday said Biological E had submitted updated safety data two to three months after the second dose in the proposed five to 11 years age group along with safety data available from the doses used uptil in the higher age group.

It has also submitted immunogenicity data and virus neutralising antibody data against variants of concern, including Delta and Wuhan strains, for its proposal for grant of restricted use in an emergency situation in the age group of five to 12 years, the source said.

Biological E has also presented updated safety data for vaccination in the age group of 12 to 14 years from the immunisation programme.

"The SEC noted that the interim safety and immunogenicity data of Phase 2/3 clinical trial in subjects of five to less than 12 years is comparable to that higher age groups. It also noted the safety data of vaccination in the age group of 12 to 14 years.

"After detailed deliberation, it has recommended approval of the vaccine for 5 years and above for restricted use in an emergency situation with the condition to submit ongoing clinical trial data," an official source said.

Meanwhile, with 2,380 new Coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,49,974, while the active cases increased to 13,433.

The death toll climbed to 5,22,062 with 56 fresh fatalities.

The active cases comprise 0.03 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate remained at 98.76 per cent.

An increase of 1,093 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded as 0.53 per cent and the weekly positivity rate as 0.43 per cent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,25,14,479, while the case fatality rate was 1.21 per cent.

The cumulative doses administered in the country so far under the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive has exceeded 187.07 crore.