Vaccines for 5-17 age group: All you need to know about Corbevax, Covovax

The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) for Corbevax COVID-19 vaccine to be used for the 5-12 age group while another vaccine Covovax has also gotten the nod for the 12-17 age group.

Corbevax is India’s first indigenously developed COVID vaccine and is developed by Biological E Limited. In February, it had got DCGI’s nod for use in the 12-18 years age group.

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Covovax is developed by the American company Novovax and is manufactured in India under license by the Serum Institute of India (SII), which also produces Covishield.

Difference between Corbevax and Covovax

Corbevax is a “recombinant protein sub-unit” vaccine, developed from a component of the spike protein on the virus’s surface, which helps the body build the immune response against the virus.

The vaccine has the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) protein as an antigen, and also an optimum adjuvant consisting of Dynavax (DVAX) CpG 1018 and alum.

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“Rather than injecting a whole pathogen to trigger an immune response, subunit vaccines (sometimes called acellular vaccines) contain purified pieces of it, which have been specially selected for their ability to stimulate immune cells,” according to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Covovax is a “recombinant spike protein Nanoparticle Vaccine”. The vaccine is also known as NVX-CoV2373.

Novavax, the American company that makes Covovax says, “Novovax makes a protein that precisely mimics the virus’ version of the spike protein. In our vaccine, we organise spike proteins into a nanoparticle to help your immune system recognize the target spike. Learning to recognize the spike proteins in this way helps your immune system protect you from getting sick from COVID.”

Nanoparticles with spike proteins are just 1 of 2 important parts of the Novavax vaccine. The spike protein is the “signal,” but to generate immunity that may help protect you from COVID, we want your immune system to hear that signal loud and clear, it added.

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That signal boost comes from our Matrix-M “adjuvant”. Tiny Matrix-M adjuvant particles increase the activity of your immune system when you receive a vaccine. Together, the vaccine’s spike protein and Matrix-M adjuvant help stimulate a protective immune response. On their own, the vaccine’s spike protein nanoparticles are not enough to trigger a full immune response, so we mix them with our proprietary Matrix-M adjuvant to help produce a stronger immune signal, with the aim of protecting immunity, the company said.

Covovax has received conditional authorisation from multiple regulatory authorities globally, including the European Commission and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Ingredients in Corbevax and Covovax

Corbevax includes Aluminium Hydroxide gel as Al+++, CpG 1018, Buffer (Tris and NaCl in WFI).

Covovax includes SARS-CoV-2 rS Protein DS, Adjuvant Matrix-M1, Disodium hydrogen phosphate heptahydrate, Sodium dihydrogen phosphate monohydrate, Sodium chloride, Polysorbate 80, water for injections.

2 doses

Covovax is packaged as a ready-to-use liquid formulation in a vial containing 10 doses. The vaccination regimen calls for two 0.5 ml doses (5 mcg antigen and 50 mcg Matrix-M adjuvant) given intramuscularly 21 days apart. The vaccine is stored at 2°- 8° Celsius, enabling the use of existing vaccine supply and cold chain channels.

Corbevax too will be given as an intramuscular (IM) injection only, preferably in the deltoid muscle. The Corbevax vaccination course consists of two separate doses of 0.5 ml each.

If you receive one dose of the Corbevax, then the second dose should be administered at least 4 weeks after the first dose. After the vaccine is administered, you will be monitored by a healthcare professional for 30 minutes.

Cost of vaccines

Covovax is priced at Rs 900 plus GST for private hospitals while Corbevax costs Rs 990 including taxes.

Total COVID vaccines

In India, we now have Covishield (Serum Institute), Covaxin (Bharat Biotech), ZyCoV-D (Zydus Cadila), Sputnik V (Russia), Corbevax, and Covovax.

India’s COVID vaccination drive began in January 2021 and it was extended to the age group of 12 to 14 in March this year while the precaution dose for the age group 18-59 years started from April 10.

Today is an important day in India’s efforts to vaccinate our citizens. Now onwards, youngsters in the 12-14 age group are eligible for vaccines and all those above 60 are eligible for precaution doses. I urge people in these age groups to get vaccinated.

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 16, 2022

As of April 30, 7 am, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 188.89 crore. This has been achieved through 2,32,98,421 sessions. For the age group 12-14 years, more than 2.86 crore adolescents have been administered with the first dose of the vaccine.