Kids above 5 to also get vax protection

A medic vaccinates a student in the age group of 12-14 years, at a school in Jammu, on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

India's drug regulator has granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for Biological E's COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for children aged five to 12 years and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for those in the age group of six to 12 years, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has also granted the EUA to Cadila for its ZyCoV-D for an additional dose of 3mg with a two-jab inoculation schedule 28 days apart for those aged above 12 years. ZyCoV-D is currently approved for a 2mg three-dose vaccination schedule. The approval by the DCGI comes following recommendations by the Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19 of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation.

At present, Corbevax is being used to inoculate children in the age group of 12 to 14 years. Covaxin was granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the DCGI for the age group of 12 to 18 years on December 24, 2021. India began inoculating children aged 12-14 on March 16.

Active cases drop

With 2,483 new Coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,30,62,569, while the active cases dipped to 15,636, according to the Union Health Ministry's Tuesday morning data.

A reduction of 886 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The death toll climbed to 5,23,622 with 1,399 new fatalities as Assam reconciled 1,347 deaths and Kerala 47 due to the infection.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said on Tuesday that experts have predicted that the COVID-19 fourth wave may peak after June and have its effects till October, stressing on learning to live with the virus by taking precautionary measures like vaccination and wearing masks.

According to a report shared by IIT Kanpur, the fourth wave was likely to start from June end, but things have started a month ahead, he said, adding, "According to them it is likely to peak after June and may go one till September and October."

He said the report submitted by them about the last three waves was by and large accurate, and the current report too is based on scientific data, and may turn out to be accurate.

4,30,62,569 Total no. of Coronavirus cases in india so far
5,23,622 Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far
15,636 Total no. of active cases in India

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