Sweden and Denmark have stopped administering Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine following reports of cardiovascular side effects among the younger population. According to a Reuters report, the Swedish health agency has stopped giving the jab to those born after 1990 after data indicated that there is an increase in myocarditis and pericarditis conditions among those inoculated. Danish authorities have stopped using the Moderna vaccine for those below 18 as a “precautionary principle”.

India’s Bharat Biotech has submitted paediatric clinical trial data of its coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, to the country’s drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation. The trial was conducted on children aged two to 18 years, reported Reuters. If approved, Covaxin will be the first vaccine in India to be administered to children. In a separate development, the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to provide Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Covaxin in October, The Times of India reported.

Covicept Therapeutics has initiated a Phase II study of PSJ-539, an oral pill developed to treat Covid-19 patients. The multi-centre, randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled trial will assess the safety and efficacy of PJS-539 in patients recently diagnosed with Covid-19. The trial is being conducted in Brazil and aims to enrol up to 150 patients.