All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria has announced that COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, is likely to be approved for children above 2 years by September this year.
"After the completion of the second and third phase of trials of Covaxin for children, the trial data would be made available by September and the vaccine itself is likely to be approved in the same month," he told a national media outlet.
Along with Covaxin, Pfizer-BioNTech could also be another alternative for children to be vaccinated with, he added.
It may be noted that several experts have warned that the third wave of COVID-19 could particularly be fatal children. Hence, Covaxin trial is being fast-tracked for the children aged between 2 and 17 at AIIMS Delhi and Patna.
Dr Guleria however disagreed that the third wave would be particularly hard-hitting for children, saying that there is "no reason to believe this theory."
Recently, AIIMS-World Health Organization (WHO) report also suggested the same that the third wave "may not hit children disproportionately."