Adar Poonawalla clarifies Covovax available for everyone above 12 years
On Tuesday, Poonawalla announced that children in the age group of 12 to 17 years can get the Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covid-19 vaccine Covovax.
Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla on Wednesday clarified that the coronavirus vaccine ‘Covovax' is available for everyone above the age of 12 years. The clarification comes a day after Poonawala announced that Covovax is now available for children in the country.
"A lot of you have asked if Covovax is available for adults. The answer is yes, it is available for everyone above the age of 12," Poonawalla wrote on Twitter.
On Tuesday, Poonawalla announced that children in the age group of 12 to 17 years can get the Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covid-19 vaccine Covovax. The SII CEO also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “vision of providing the vaccine for children.”
“Covovax (@Novavax), is now available for children in India. This is the only vaccine manufactured in India that is also sold in Europe and has an efficacy of > 90%. This is in line with Shri @narendramodi Ji's vision of providing yet another vaccine to protect our children,” he announced on Twitter.
Covovax is the second Covid-19 vaccine that has been manufactured by the SII, after Covishield. In December last year, the DCGI approved Covovax for emergency use in adults and approved the vaccine for emergency use in those aged 12. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) last week approved the Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in children between the age group of 12 to 17 years.
One dose of the Covovax will cost ₹900 plus GST - in addition to the hospital service charge of ₹150.
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Currently, children aged 12 to 14 years are vaccinated with Biological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax, while those in the 15-18 age group are given Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
A total of 1,89,48,01,203 vaccines have been administered in the country so far. While 5,85,57,194 first dose and 4,26,56,237 second doses have been administered for the 15 to 18 years age group, 2,95,09,889 first doses and 80,40,467 second doses have been administered in the age group of 12 to 14 years.
