New Delhi: Children may not be included in the early stages of any COVID vaccination programme. This is because even the leading companies conducting final phases of trials of possible vaccines have not started testing them on children.
It was announced that the trials for the vaccine being developed by Oxford, which is the most promising among all candidates being tested, would also include those aged between five and 18 years. However, the testing on this age group has not been started.
The trials for Covaxin, a COVID vaccine that is being developed in India, have also not included those aged below 12 years.
There is concern that the delay in developing a vaccine for children will affect their studies in the next academic year also.
Side effects and dose
Just because a vaccine is effective for adults wouldn't mean it can be given to children. Many of the adults who received the vaccine on an experimental basis during the ongoing trials showed side-effects.
While these effects have not caused significant problems in adults, that may not be the case with children. Also, children may not need the same dose as required for adults.