As concerns rise over a possible third wave of Covid, those below 18 years of age are now queuing up to make pre-bookings for Covid vaccination even before the actual roll out of the vaccination drive for this age group.

Parallelly, in anticipation of the government approval for vaccination of children below 18 some time next month, major hospitals and health department officials are gearing up to meet the rush.

As of now, there there are two vaccines that have EUA: Covaxin, for ages 2-18, and ZyCov-D, for ages 12-18. Covaxin will have to be given intramuscularly in two doses at a gap of 28 days, and ZyCoV-D is a three-dose vaccine, which will be administered first on day zero, day 28 and then on the 56th day. With this approval, India now has its first Covid vaccine for those in the 12-18 age group.

Seeing the demand and to ensure hassle-free roll out, some hospitals have already started enrolments. “We are enrolling those who want to get vaccinated and are waiting for government approval and regulations,” K Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Group of Hospitals, told BusinessLine .

It has also announced free vaccination against Covid for children with specific comorbidities across the hospital network.

“With nearly 110 crore people vaccinated so far in the country, the biggest concern now will be to protect children from the pandemic, which is also vital to arrest the spread of Covid in schools and other community places. We expect great interest from the general public and significant spurt in the demand for vaccination,” said a senior official from the Health Department of Telangana.

“We, too, have opened the enrolment and do expect that demand will be greater than supply once the vaccination opens up,” said a senior executive with a Hyderabad-based major private hospital. As only two vaccines will be available, augmenting the supply in the short term will be a challenge, he added.

More vaccines coming

Even though there are only two vaccines for those below 18 years as of now, there will be more going forward. “There could be room for four to five vaccines in this segment,” said Deepak Sapra, Chief Executive Officer, APIs & Services, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

Dr Reddy’s, which is the brand custodian of Russian vaccine Sputnik V, also intends to commence the trials for a paediatric version of Sputnik V.

Dr Reddy’s will commence trials of Sputnik V for paediatric use in November.

As Bharat Biotech has recently ramped up production of Covaxin with almost reaching 50 to 55 million doses production per month, it may augur well in addressing the supply issues.