As the nation prepares for anti-COVID vaccine’s clinical trials on minors, let’s err on the side of caution

The news has come that the Phase 2 and 3 trials of Covaxin on children aged 2-18 years will start sometime in the next fortnight. The Bharat Biotech-manufactured vaccine against the raging COVID-19 pandemic will be the first such vaccine to be tested on minors in the country. Owing largely to speculation in social media, there is already the fear prevailing among the masses that the impending third wave of the virulent infection could potentially target mainly the children. Kicking off a minor controversy on the subject, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was recently filed in the Delhi High Court, requesting it to stay the vaccine’s clinical trial on the minors. However, the court has refused to grant any interim stay on the trial. There has also been the lingering issue of vaccine hesitancy, especially since the initial stages of India’s vaccination drive, when people preferred to wait till the last possible moment before going for the anti-COVID shot. Coupled with the doubts on the efficacy of the vaccines, people were also afraid that their elected representatives — largely ahead of the lesser mortals in any queue for any privilege and entitlement in receiving freebies — chose to wait this time around.

Adding to their hesitation and discomfiture was Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to the elected representatives to not rush for vaccination. However, the people’s fears were allayed when the Prime Minister himself went to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the Capital to get the jab. The Hyderabad-based firm’s vaccine, among the two main manufactured in India, the other being Covishield, is preferred among the populace. But the main concern to be addressed by the Government and the medical fraternity, including scientists, is that the health of our next generation must not be compromised in any way, at any cost. They are our future and let there be no haste at any level, at any stage, to rush ahead with the vaccination drive. Only when the clinical trials are completed to the satisfaction of the experts and the efficacy of the dose confirmed, should the kids be brought into the vaccination centres. In our hurry to fulfil the promise of inoculating all Indian citizens, we must not forget that it is also equally our responsibility to ensure that the health of the minors takes precedence of everything else.