J&J seeks regulator’s nod for vaccine trials on adolescents
Active cases lowest in 150 days; 36K cases, 540 die in 24 hrs
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) on Friday said it had submitted an application to the Indian drug regulator to conduct a study of its Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years. The US pharmaceutical giant said it was committed to facilitating global equitable access to its Covid-19 vaccine and recognised the unmet needs of children.
India, meanwhile, on Friday reported 36,571 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours, pushing the case tally to 3,23,58,829. The death toll rose to 4,33,589, with 540 more deaths in the same time period.
Zydus Cadila has also received emergency use authorisation from the Drug Controller General of India for its ZyCoV-D. This is the world’s first and India’s indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for Covid-19 to be administered to both adults and children of 12 years and above.
“On August 17, 2021, we submitted an application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) to conduct a study of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine in India in adolescents aged 12-17 years,” a J&J India spokesman said. To ultimately achieve herd immunity, it is imperative that Covid19 vaccine clinical trials continue to move forward in this population, the
■ Continued from Page 1 spokesman added. “We remain deeply committed to the critical work needed to make our Covid-19 vaccine equitably accessible for all age groups,” the spokesman said. Earlier this month, the government had given emergency use approval to J&J’s single-dose Covid19 vaccine in India.
Active Covid-19 cases have, meanwhile, fallen to 3,63,605, the lowest in 150 days, and are 1.12 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, the Union health ministry said. A reduction of 524 cases has been recorded in the active Covid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
As many as 18,86,271 tests were conducted on Thursday, taking the total cumulative tests for detection of Covid-19 in India to 50,26,99,702.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for the last 25 days.
The weekly positivity rate was recorded at 1.93 per cent. It has been below three per cent for the last 56 days, the ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,15,61,635, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.