Doctors urge urgent shots for children

A five-year-old is administered a Covid vaccine in Chile. Pic/AFP

Roll out vaccines for children as it will help the nation gain herd immunity, an umbrella body of paediatricians has written to the Centre amid rising cases of Omicron. Children form 30-35 per cent of India's population and should not be kept unvaccinated for a long time, said the Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation Practices (ACVIP).

Dr Bakul Parekh, a member of ACVIP and national president IAP, "They [children] are the only population left to be vaccinated. If we vaccinate them, we can get herd immunity." The state paediatric task force and IAP have been urging the government to vaccinate kids. Dr Parekh, who is also a member of the state paediatric task force, said jabs for kids have become even more necessary with the reopening of schools.

With schools reopening, kids can take back infection home, say few experts. Pic/AFP

"By vaccinating them, we will stop the spread of infection as they can take back the infection to their family. Why not vaccinate them for prevention and larger benefit," he said. The vaccination programme for children was supposed to roll out in December. In Mumbai alone, there are 33 lakh children between 2 and 17 years of age. Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D will be administered to children above 12 and adults, and is expected to be introduced as part of the programme soon.

The members of ACVIP said by vaccinating children, parents will also be less panicky and complications of Covid can be prevented. "It is seen that the virus so far had a mild impact on children as the majority have been asymptomatic. The Covid-19 infection still has the power to have complications like multisystem inflammatory syndrome [MIS-C] in some children like we saw in the second wave," said Dr Parekh.

The IAP has also requested the government to involve paediatricians in the vaccination program for children. "Paediatricians have been giving other vaccines to children and parents too have faith in their paediatrician. It will help in smooth and faster rollout of the vaccine program for the children. Their rapport with children and their parents will provide the most reassuring situation for vaccinating the children in the clinics and can lessen vaccine hesitancy and vaccine refusal," he said.

‘Give priority to comorbid kids'

The state paediatric task force has suggested that children with comorbidities like asthma should be vaccinated on priority. "Such children are more prone to a severe infection. They should be vaccinated on priority if there is a less supply of vaccines. But, if we have enough vaccine supply for children, the entire population should be vaccinated," said Dr Parekh.

35%
Share of children in the country's population