Novovax Covid-19 vaccine gets emergency use approval for 12-18 age group in India
Novovax on Tuesday announced that it has received the first emergency use authorisation nod for its Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents falling between the age of 12-18 years in India.
According to an official statement released by Novovax, the vaccine, also known as NVX-CoV2373, is being manufactured and marketed in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The vaccine is marketed under the brand name ‘Covovax’ in India.
Novovax is the first protein-based vaccine authorised for use in the age group of 12-18 in India. Last month, after its last stage trial testing, Novovax had said that its vaccine was 80% effective against Covid-19. It produced an immune response during the testing.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given a nod for restricted use in an emergency situation for Covovax for active immunisation in individuals who are 12 years of age and older. In addition to this, Covovax has also received Emergency Use Listing (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Covovax is the fourth vaccine against coronavirus that is authorised for adolescents of the ages of 12 years and older in India following Biological E’s Corbevax, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Novovax Stanley C Erck said that they are proud of the first approval in adolescents. “We’re proud of this first approval in adolescents given the efficacy and safety that our data show in this population and that our COVID-19 vaccine will provide an alternative protein-based vaccine option for individuals 12 years of age and older in India,” he said, as quoted by ANI.
Meanwhile, CEO of Serum Institute of India (SII) Adar Poonawala said that this approval marks another significant milestone in strengthening immunisation efforts across India and LMICs, reported ANI.
India, which had been vaccinating children of age 15 years and above, began vaccinating children aged 12 to 14 with doses of Biological E’s Corbevax last week. According to the health ministry data, a total of 50,32,055 first doses have been administered in children aged 12-14 years.