Children vaccines approved, Oil money funded 'free shots'

New Delhi:

Amid massive pace with which anti-covid vaccination for adults is on, nowcomes good news for the under 18 years of age category.

Children in India can now get Covid vaccine for protection against the virus following its approval by an experts committee of the Drug Controller of the country.

Man and his Mission 

The Subject Expert Committee on Covid-19 has granted emergency use approval to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children in the 2-18 years age group.

The Covaxin for children will use a pre-filled syringe or PFS mechanism. Children will receive two doses of the vaccine between a gap of 28 days.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had completed Phase-2 and Phase-3 trials of Covaxin on children below 18 years of age in September and submitted the trial data to the Drugs and Comptroller General of India (DCGI). The committee recommended for the grant of market authorization of the vaccine for the age group of 2 to 18 years for restricted use in emergency situations, the panel said.

Two other companies, Serum Institute of India and homegrown drugmaker Biological E., have also been allowed to test their shots on children, reports said.

Virtually racing against time, giving a major push to vaccination drive nationwide,

As of October 12, 2021, India has administered over 958 million (over 95 crore) doses overall, including first and second doses of the currently-approved vaccines. 

Kerala, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Odisha and Delhi have reported coronavirus cases in children lately.

In Kerala, which has been contributing to the bulk of the total caseload, the Covid antibodies have been found in at least 40 per cent children, as per a survey conducted by the state government. 

Maharashtra and Delhi have also reported antibodies in children.

Nothing comes free:

Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Rameswar Teli has said that taxes on petroleum products funded the free Covid-19 vaccines provided by the Centre to the people.

“The price of petrol is not high, there is tax involved in it. The price of (packaged mineral) water is higher than that of fuel. The price of petrol is ₹ 40, the Assam government imposes ₹ 28 VAT, the Petroleum Ministry imposes ₹ 30, it becomes ₹ 98. But if you drink Himalaya water, then the cost of a bottle is Rs.100. The cost of water is more, not of oil," he said.

The minister then explained that the money for the free vaccines comes from the taxes that the central government collects and that is how the government was able to roll out free vaccination camps.

"You must have taken a free vaccine, where will the money come from? You haven’t paid the money, this is how it was collected," he said.

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