While India grapples with a surge in COVID-19, a lot of fake news has been doing the rounds on social media about the two vaccines that are currently administered.
And, in a bid to curb such news, the government has stepped in and dismissed a viral tweet that claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years of age.
On Sunday, PIB's Fact Check tweeted saying: "A tweet has claimed that Bharat Biotech's vaccine, Covaxin, has been approved for children above 12 years. This claim is #Fake. No such approval has been given by the Government of India."
This comes amid reports that children are likely to be at risk during the possible third wave of COVID-19 that the country may witness in the coming few months.
Covaxin is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).
The Centre, in April, had liberalised the vaccination drive for phase three and allowed states, private hospitals, and industrial establishments to procure the doses directly from manufacturers.
India had started the COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 with two vaccines - Covaxin and Covishield. The second phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive to immunise people above 60 years and those over 45 with comorbidities against the coronavirus began on March 1. The third phase began on April 1 for all above 45 years of age, while people aging above 18 to 45 became eligible for inoculation in the next phase which commenced on May 1.
(With inputs from PTI)
