Covaxin showed good response in adolescents: Covid panel chief

India's Covid-19 panel chief Dr NK Arora on Sunday said that Covaxin has shown that it has a very good immune response in children in trials.

While speaking to news agency ANI on govt's decision to roll out vaccination for the children aged 15-18 years, Dr Arora said that almost two-thirds of the deaths below 18 years which occurred due to Covid-19 in India are within this age group.

Dr Arora also said that there were two other advantages of immunizing adolescents. One is that they are quite mobile and their risk of getting infected is quite high especially in the wake of highly contagious Omicron variant.

Also watch: Covid-19: 15-18 yr old children to be given only Covaxin shots, for now

Secondly, often these adolescents bring infection into their households where chances of elderly getting infected are quite high, he added.

Upon being asked about the efficacy of the vaccine, the Covid panel chief said that there's no efficacy study present at the moment for the age group. However, there is an immunogenecity study which indicates that adolescents produce better levels of antibodies as compared to the adults, he added.