India’s Serum Novavax jab to be launched for children in six months

pharmafile | December 14, 2021 | News story | Medical Communications  

The Serum Institute of India (SII) plans to launch the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for children in the country in six months, according to Reuters. SII’s CEO, Adar Poonawalla, announced that global vaccine supplies were outstripping the absorption capacity of many countries.

The Novavaxshot, also known as Covovax, has shown positive results in trials in children aged three and older, Poonawalla announced in a virtual conference organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry. “Our vaccine will be launched in six months,” he said. “It is under trial, and has shown excellent data all the way down to the age group of three.”

Alongside the Novavax vaccine, which has also been exported to countries such as Indonesia, SII also manufactures the AstraZeneca and Sputnik shots. SII’s monthly output of the AstraZeneca vaccine has nearly quadrupled since April 2021, to 250 million doses, and the company has announced plans to temporarily halve that production due to weak demand.

Poonawalla said that current global vaccine supply was far bigger than what many countries could consume, despite them inoculating only a fraction of their population, mainly due to infrastructure shortages: “Globally, including in India, the supply has outmatched the demand. Certain countries have only vaccinated to the tune of 10% or 15% of the population, they really need to go to 60-70%.”

Lina Adams

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