Amidst fears of the third wave of Coronavirus, vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India (SII) is preparing to commence clinical trials of Novavax’s Coronavirus vaccine on children from July onwards. The vaccine which has been created by the American biotechnology firm Novavax and branded as Covavax by SII will be administered to children in the clinical trials to test its efficacy, the Indian Express reported. A close supply privy to the discussion from the Pune-based Serum Institute of India told the Indian Express that the clinical trials on children will commence from the month of July.
In the midst of vaccine shortage across the nation, Novavax vaccine got a shot in the arm as the clinical trial phase 3 benefits showed about 90.4 % efficacy. The clinical trials have been carried out across 119 places in the United States and Mexico and proved efficacy of the vaccine at par with other best vaccines like Moderna’s and Pfizer’s.
Soon right after the news broke out about the fantastic clinical trial benefits, Dr V K Paul who is the head of India Covid-19 activity force urged Serum Institute to commence clinical trials of the vaccine on children devoid of any delay. While terming the vaccine clinical trials outcome as a positive development, Dr Paul had also mentioned the vaccine was quite relevant as it would be indigenously produced in the nation and groundwork for the manufacturing of the vaccine has also been completed by SII.
What tends to make the Covavax vaccine crucial in the country’s Covid-19 immunisation programme is the reality that the government expects about 20 crore doses of the vaccine to be accessible in between August and December. Also, the vaccine can be stored at a temperature in between 2° and 8° Celsius which tends to make it hugely appropriate for Indian circumstances exactly where logistics and storage bottlenecks in far-flung locations hamper effective inoculation.
After the completion of clinical trials and regulatory approval to the vaccine, India’s Covid-19 vaccination drive will choose pace with 3 indigenously manufactured vaccines namely- Serum’s Covishield and Covavax and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.