New Delhi: Indian children aged 12 to 18 will get the vaccination by September 2021, said AIIMS chief Dr. Randeep Guleria here on Saturday.

Zydus has already clinical trials and waiting for emergency authorization. Meanwhile, the Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin trials should be over by August or September-2021. India will also get Pfizer vaccine, AIIMS Chief said. 

Mr. Guleria said that by September, India should start vaccinating children, and that will be a big boost as far as breaking the chain of transmission is concerned, he added. 

In an ongoing vaccination drive, India has given over 42 crore doses of vaccines so far, inoculated nearly 6 percent of its population, however, Centre has aims to vaccinate all adults by the end of this year. 

However, the country is yet to clear a vaccine for children amid concern over a third wave. The European medicines watchdog approved the use of Moderna's coronavirus vaccine for children aged 12 to 17 on July 23. Like in May, the United States had authorised the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 years old.

Mr. Guleria said that India needs to get our own vaccines too - that's why both Bharat Biotech and Zydus are important. Getting the Pfizer vaccine will also be helpful, as there is enough data to suggest it's safe, he remarked. 

“We will hopefully have more than one vaccine for children by September," he said.