‘Vaccine for kids above 12 years likely by August’

Health workers administer a dose of Covid-19 vaccine to beneficiaries in Beawar, Rajasthan, on Sunday. Pic/PTI

Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine for children above 12 years is expected to be available by August as its trials are likely to be completed by July-end, said Dr N K Arora, chairman, the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

"Trial will almost complete till July-end and in August, we will be able to vaccinate children aged between 12-18 years," said NTAGI chief.

According to a senior government official, Cadila is likely to soon apply to the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) for emergency use authorisation for its ZyCoV-D vaccine, which it claims can be given to both adults and children.

AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria said the data of phase two and three trial of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on two to 18 years age group is expected by September. "The vaccine can be available for children in India around that time following approval from the drug regulator, he said.

"If the Pfizer vaccine gets approval before that, then it can also be an option for children."

‘3rd wave to be late'

Arora said, "ICMR has come up with a study which says 3rd wave is likely to come late. We have a window period of 6-8 months to immunise everybody in the country. In the coming days, our target is to administer 1 crore doses every day."

Cautioning people that the threat of Covid-19 remains, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged people to shed vaccine hesitancy and get themselves inoculated against Coronavirus soon. The Union health ministry on Sunday morning recorded 50,040 fresh infections and 1,258 fatalities.

Cases of insomnia, depression in Delhi on rise: experts

Several of Delhi's clinics and hospitals are registering a spike in cases of depression, anxiety, insomnia and other mental health disorders. "Sadness, isolation, grief of fear of losing loved ones, loss of income and decreasing socialisation are exacerbating mental health conditions," said Manish Jain, consultant, psychiatry department at BLK Hospital. Dr Kalyan Banerjee's Clinic has seen a 40 per cent spike in the number of patients complaining of symptoms related to mental health. About 2,500 prescriptions every month, as opposed to 1,750 in the pre-pandemic era, are being given to manage symptoms like anxiety, depression, panic attacks, insomnia, doctors said.

3,02,33,183
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in India so far

3,95,751
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

5,86,403
Total no. of active cases in India

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