According to an official statement on Friday, India has granted homegrown drugmaker Biological E permission to begin midtage studies of its COVID-19 vaccine in children and adolescents.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave the approval to the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company on Sept. 1, the statement said.

The company will study the safety and tolerability of its vaccine, CORBEVAX, in this population, it added.

For now, six vaccines have been authorized for the utilization purpose in the country where only about 11.28% of the entire population has been fully vaccinated so far, according to Johns Hopkins data.

Of these, the COVID-19 shots for adults by Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila (CADI.NS) have been indigenously developed.

In late August, India also approved Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine, the world’s first DNA shot against the coronavirus, for emergency use in children aged 12 years and above. Read more

Biological E. is also running a late-stage trial of its vaccine in adults.