Covovax: SEC recommends granting emergency use authorization to SII’s COVID vaccine for 12-17 age group

Kovovax India: The subject expert committee has recommended emergency use authorization (EUA) to Serum Institute of India’s coronavirus vaccine Kovovax for 12-17 age group. The Serum Institute of India also submitted data for Phase III trials of the Kovovax booster dose.

Kovovax was earlier approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted use in emergency situations for adults on December 28, 2021. However, final approval from DCGI for emergency use authorization for Kovovax for age group 12- 17 is still awaited.

Subject Expert Committee (SEC) recommends emergency use authorization for Covovax, a SII’s COVID-19 vaccine for age group 12-17: official source pic.twitter.com/1SXTcOgNs6

— ANI (@ANI)
4 March 2022

Kovovax recommended for emergency use authorization

The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) recommended Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Kovovax in a meeting on March 4, 2022. The meeting for COVID-19 related proposals was held on March 2 between 12 noon and 6 pm.

Kovovax in India

After receiving emergency use authorization from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), Covovax will become the fourth vaccine that can be administered to the age group of 12-17 years in the country.

Notably, the Kovavax vaccine has not yet been included in the country’s vaccination programme.

More about Covovax

Kovavax is manufactured by Serum Institute of India by transfer of technology from Novavax and is approved by European Medicines Agency for conditional marketing. Kovovax was also given an emergency use list by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Status of COVID Vaccine in India

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health on March 4, 2022, India has administered over 1.78 billion COVID vaccine doses, including 2.48 million doses, in the last 24 hours. According to the government, so far, more than 2 crore precautionary doses have been provided to the eligible persons in the country.