UP to vaccinate parents of children below the age of 12 on priority

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

The Uttar Pradesh government will vaccinate parents of children below the age of 12 on priority basis, given the fears that the next wave of COVID-19 may affect children the most. This is in addition to vaccination being administered on priority through special booths to journalists, judicial officers, government workers and teachers.

Additional chief secretary (information) Navneet Sehgal, on Monday, said special booths will be set up to vaccinate such parents

The ministry of health and family welfare, in its guidelines for pediatric COVID-19 management, said while most children remain asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, there are cases of severe infection as well. "Children with SpO2 level less than 90 per cent are categorised as having severe degree of COVID-19 infection..

Children, when admitted to hospitals, will require presence of parents to take care of them and hence the vaccination of parents is vital.

On Saturday, during a visit to Saifai medical college, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had announced that the state would inoculate parents of all children below the age of 10. The CM also instructed that 100 COVID-19 beds for children be set up in all 75 districts of the state.

The CM announced that the state will bear the expenses of children who have lost their parents to COVID-19. A policy with a special emphasis on newborns and adolescents will soon be put in place. So far, 565 children who lost either one or both the parents to the pandemic have been identified by the government.

Since May 5, the government has launched an aggressive test, trace and treat programme in 97,000 villages across the state. Under this, cleanliness and sanitation drives and fogging too are being carried out.

The state is also focusing on industrial establishments which have more than 50 employees. As many as 1,400 care centres with 5,000 beds have been set up so far in these establishments. This has been made necessary by the fact that the state has not implemented a complete lockdown, and essential industrial activities continue.