First in UP: 3-yr-old girl youngest to take Covaxin jab

As many as 15 more children would be included in these trials being conducted only in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh DR JS KUSHWAHA, chairman of Prakhar Hospital

KANPUR : In a first in Uttar Pradesh, clinical trials of the indigenous Covaxin for children in the age group of 2-6 years began in Kanpur on Thursday.

Five children were given the first dose of the vaccine at Prakhar Hospital here. The youngest among the volunteers was a three-year-old girl.

Two kids were from Kanpur and three from Kanpur Dehat. One child was of a doctor, one of a bank manager and three of businessmen.

After immunisation, the safety profile of all these children will be checked and analysed.

The second dose would be given after 28 days, said doctors.

“As many as 15 more children would be included in these trials being conducted only in Kanpur in UP,” said Dr JS Kushwaha, chairman of Prakhar Hospital in Arya Nagar, where last week children in age groups 6-12 years and 12-18 years were given doses as part of these trials.

Last year, the hospital had received the go-ahead from the Data and Safety Monitoring Board and Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to commence the trials.

The hospital had conducted one of the biggest trials for the adults’ vaccine in UP.

According to Kushwaha, the children were screened twice – first on Saturday and then on Monday.

The volunteers’ vital parameters were checked thrice before they underwent RT-PCR and antibodies test.

A team of doctors conducted all the tests in the presence of their parents.

Their reports were shared with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech, he said.

Following the approval by the council, the children were called with their parents to the hospital for the doses, said chief investigator of the trials Dr VN Tripathi, who is former director-general (medical education).

“Our team of specialists will keep monitoring the kids for seven days. Their reports will be sent to the ICMR twice a day,” he said.

The bank manager, who made his kid a volunteer for this trial, said it was his trust on the doctors and his desire to keep his child safe, which made him take the step.

“It is not easy for anyone to let his or her child be a part of something like this. Under these circumstances (pandemic), one has to take some action to keep kids safe in the possible third wave. Hope the vaccine will work and would be given emergency approval,” he said.