West Bengal: School reopening talk triggers parents’ queries on kids’ vaccine – Times of India

KOLKATA: Even as the first approved Covid-19 vaccine for children in India is unlikely to be rolled out before October, doctors are already flooded with queries from anxious parents. A week ago, the home-grown vaccine — ZyCov-D — got emergency use authorisation (EUA) in India for children above 12 years of age.
And with talks about schools reopening after the Puja festivities in the state, many parents are eager that their children get the vaccine protection.

“There is an increasing interest and query for Covid-19 vaccine for children especially after the EUA. Nine out of 10 parents who come to consult me want to know when the vaccine will be available,” said Institute of Child Health (ICH) professor Jaydeep Choudhury. The institute at Park Circus was part of the pan India Phase III trial of of ZyCov-D on children between 12 and 18 where Choudhury was the co-investigator.
Indigenously developed, this is a DNA-based vaccine unlike the other vaccines which are RNA-based. EUA has been given for both the adult vaccines and that for children above 12 years of age.
“Initially, not too many children were being infected. But now we see an increasing number of children being infected. Since this Delta variant can be quite nasty to children too it is good that finally there is a vaccine to offer some amount of protection to children,” said paediatrician Pallab Chatterjee of Apollo Hospital.
“There are reports of children getting infected in cluster from other states where schools have re-opened. May be the infection in children are less severe but they are getting infected. Therefore, the government is ready to start vaccinating children above 12 years of age as and when the central government rolls it out and hands over the rollout map to us,” said a senior health department official.
Choudhury said that Zycov-D is a needle-free three doses vaccine to be given within four weeks.
“While immunogenicity was done on adults the study in children was the safety aspect. With only a few children having developed insignificant issues like minor fever and pain at the jab site, this vaccine has been found to be safe on them,” added Choudhury.
Doctors are also expecting Covaxin for children above two years of age to be out very soon.
“Meanwhile, all adults around these children should be vaccinated including teachers and other school staffs if schools were to open. This will also ensure some kind of protection to them,” added Chatterjee.