As several reports suggest that the third wave of Covid-19 can see children getting infected, a viral tweet started doing the rounds on the internet wherein it was claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years of age.
The government's media wing Press Information Bureau (PIB), however, said that no decision has been taken so far regarding administering the vaccine to children above 12 years of age. It said that the tweet is fake and alerted citizens to be aware of such rumours.
India has approved two vaccines -- Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use to bolster the fight against virus. The vaccination drive was launched on January 16 and the doses are being given to those who are above 18.
PIB from its fact check account informed, "A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years. PIB Fact Check: This claim is Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India. Currently, citizens above the age of 18 are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination."
Bharat Biotech recently announced a drop in the price of its vaccine- Covaxin. The vaccine will now be available at Rs 400 per dose instead of Rs 600 for state government hospitals.
Covaxin is the country's first indigenous vaccine that has been developed with the help of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.
The country on Monday recorded 3,66,161 new cases of the novel coronavirus, a slight dip from over 4 lakh cases in the last few days. A total of 3,754 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours.
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