Trials of the COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 3 to 12 are expected to begin soon: Zydus Cadila MD

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3 years ago

Zydus Cadila will now file an application to begin vaccine trials for children aged 3-12 years after getting emergency use authorisation for its COVID-19 vaccine, said Managing Director Dr. Sharvil Patel on Saturday.

The three-shot vaccination, known as ZyCoV-D, is the world’s first plasmid DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine that is administered without the need of a needle.

ZyCoV-D is the second COVID-19 vaccine authorised in India.

‘Will submit an application for trials in the ages of 3-12 in 7-10 days.’

Dr. Patil told India Today that Zydus Cadila is preparing trials for children aged 3 to 12.

ZyCoV-D is already on track to become India’s first COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 12 to 18.

Dr. Patil explained that vaccines are initially approved in older groups, saying, “We will now file for a trial in children of the age group of 3-12 in the next 7-10 days.“

Zydus Cadila’s 2-shot vaccine is also anticipated soon

Dr. Patil further stated that Zydus Cadila is designing a two-shot vaccine and has already finished immunogenicity trials for the same.

In an interview with India Today, Dr. Patil said, “We have seen comparable and sometimes significantly better immunogenicity in the double shot vaccine.

So, we are in discussion with regulators and SEC to see how we can build a two-dose vaccine in the future,“

ZocoV-D is 66 percent effective against Delta, according to the study

Dr. Patil noted that their experiment was conducted during the height of the second wave, in April, May, and June, to assess the efficiency of the vaccination against the Delta variation.

He claimed that a “sero-surveillance” revealed that the bulk of positive instances seen throughout the trial were Delta variations.

“So, when we came out with 66% efficacy, that is definitely against the Delta variant.”

India’s first intradermal vaccine, ZyCov-D

The vaccine produced by Zydus Cadila is being developed in collaboration with the Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The second and third dosages must be administered 28 and 56 days after the first, respectively.

It is India’s first intra-dermal (between skin and muscles) vaccine, delivered with a needle-free injector.

Other COVID-19 vaccines that have been licenced in India are given intramuscularly.

When can we expect the vaccine to be available? What is the cost?

The vaccine, according to Dr. Patil, will be available in mid to late September. However, greater doses will not be available until the middle of October. Meanwhile, the vaccine’s pricing has yet to be determined.