Companies are trying to bring safe and effective vaccines for kids against COVID-19. Will it help us protect them or achieve herd immunity?
What’s New?
Zydus Cadila is looking to begin the trials of its COVID-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, in children of 5–12 years age group. Cadila Healthcare MD Sharvil Patel told The Times of India that this platform will be more useful for children because it will be devoid of any side effects that you get to see in many other vaccines. He also said that the another benefit of their vaccine is that it involves needle-free administration. This means that the vaccine can be given to kids in a pain-free way.
For Teens
Zydus Cadila: This news by Zydus Cadila about planning to test its COVID-19 vaccine for 5–12 age group comes at a time when the company has already covered over 800 children in 12–18 years in clinical trials. Zydus is anticipating to receive regulatory approval for the emergency use of its vaccine in adults by the end of June or July.
Pfizer/BioNTech: The vaccine by Pfizer-BioNTech for 12 to 15-year-olds has been approved by the European Union’s drug watchdog. The companies have said that their COVID-19 vaccine is 100% effective, and it is well tolerated in youths between the age of 12 to 15. The European Medicines Agency said two doses of the vaccines, which are branded as Comirnaty, should be administered with an interval of at least three weeks. The United States and Canada have already authorised Pfizer for adolescents.
Moderna: The company said that its recent trials of COVID-19 vaccine is shown to be safe and effective on adolescents ages 12 to 17. In a large study, it was showed that its vaccine was between 93% and 100% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in a study of teenagers. The company said that preliminary findings showed the vaccine triggered the same signs of immune protection in young people it does in adults and the same kind of temporary side effects like sore arms, headache and fatigue.
Third Wave
There have been reports saying that the third COVID-19 pandemic will hit children hard, but some experts are saying that these claims are not based on facts. The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) said that though children remain susceptible to infection, it was “highly unlikely that the third wave will predominantly or exclusively affect children,” writes The Indian Express. It also said that there was no evidence to suggest that most children with COVID-19 infection will have severe disease in the third wave.
On the other hand, we also have to reach herd immunity to contain the spread of the coronavirus. So, what does it have to do with vaccinating children? Because Drexel University paediatrics professor Dr. Sarah Long told the AP that “It’s unlikely we could get community protection without immunizing children.” Also, we have to do this fast because kids are increasingly becoming infected by COVID-19. According to Ahmednagar district in Maharashtra, 8,000 kids were tested positive for COVID-19 in May alone.
So, if we want to protect our kids and achieve herd immunity, safe as well as effective vaccines for kids might just be what we need at this moment.
