From Wednesday, kids in the 12-14 age bracket will be able to get their Covid-19 vaccines as the Centre decided to expand its inoculation drive. We take a look at who are eligible for these shots and what vaccines will be used to inoculate the kids. 🗞️ Subscribe Now: Get Express Premium to access the best Election reporting and analysis 🗞️ Who are eligible and when will they get their Covid-19 vaccine shots? The Health Ministry announced that those born in 2008, 2009, and 2010, i.e, those who are above the age of 12, will be eligible for their Covid-19 vaccines from March 16. Currently, the population above 14 years of age are being administered Covid-19 vaccines under the ongoing inoculation programme. Which vaccines will be used for this age group? According to the Health Ministry, Corbevax, that is manufactured by the Hyderabad-based Biological-E, will be used to inoculate kids in this age group. Corbevax is India’s first indigenously developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein sub-unit vaccine. On February 21, India's drug approval agency granted emergency use authorization to Corbevax for the 12-18 years age group. What is the technology that Corbevax has been built on? Corbevax, a protein sub-unit Covid-19 vaccine, is one that is built on the traditional sub-unit vaccine platform. Instead of the whole virus, the platform triggers an immune response by using fragments of it, like the spike protein. The sub-unit vaccine contains the harmless S-protein, and once the human immune system recognises it, it produces antibodies, such as white blood cells, that fight the infection. Corbevax includes antigenic parts of the virus to trigger a protective immune response. The antigen has been developed by the Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development and in-licensed from BCM Ventures, Baylor College of Medicine’s integrated commercialization team. Newsletter | Click to get the day's best explainers in your inbox
