Coronavirus vaccine: Will children be able to get COVID-19 vaccines?

The Pfizer vaccine authorised in the U.S. this month is for people 16 and older. Testing began in October in children as young as 12 and is expected to take several more months.

Children of all ages can become ill with coronavirus disease. But, can they take the COVID-19 vaccines? Not until there's enough data from studies in different age groups, which will stretch well into next year.

The Pfizer vaccine authorised in the U.S. this month is for people 16 and older. Testing began in October in children as young as 12 and is expected to take several more months.

The Food and Drug Administration will have to decide when there's enough data to allow emergency use in this age group.

Depending on the results, younger children may be enrolled for study as well.

Moderna, which is expected to become the second COVID-19 vaccine greenlit in the U.S., began enrolling study participants ages 12 to 17 this month, and will track them for a year. Testing in children younger than 12 is expected to start in early 2021.

It is uncertain if the results on younger children will come in time for vaccinations to begin before the next school year.

Positive outcomes in adult studies are reassuring and suggest it is safe to proceed in testing kids, said Dr. Buddy Creech, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University and director of its vaccine research program.

Even though children usually don't get very sick from COVID-19, they can spread the virus to others, said Dr. Robert Frenck, who is the lead researcher for Pfizer's study in kids at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

At least 1.6 million youth have been infected, 8,000 have been hospitalized and 162 have died from the virus, he noted.

"It's really important, not only for themselves but also for society," Frenck said.

India recorded 24,010 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, while the national recovery rate stood at over 95 per cent, according to data updated by the Union Health Ministry today.

India's coronavirus caseload mounted to 99,356,557 with 24,010 infections being reported in a day, while the deaths rose to 1,44,451 with 355 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am on Thursday showed.

There are 3,322,366 active coronavirus infections in the country which constitute 3.24 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

(With inputs from Agencies)