After several months of discussion, finally, from January 3, 2022, in India, adolescents in the age group of 15 to 18 years have started getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
This thing also matters because the Omicron variant of the coronavirus has knocked in India and the first Omicron variant found in South Africa is spreading rapidly in India.
To deal with this new variant, the Government of India has taken some important decisions to further strengthen the vaccination campaign.
Health workers, front-line workers, and people over 60 years of age will begin receiving the third dose from January 10, 2022, one week after the start of vaccination for people aged 15 to 18 years.
So far, more than 146 crore doses of the vaccine have been administered in India. Out of this, more than 80 crores is the first dose and more than 60 crores are the second dose.
According to estimates, in this phase of vaccination, 8 to 9 crore children will be given two doses of the vaccine.
How will children be vaccinated?
Only Bharat Biotech's "Covaccine" vaccine will be dosed for the age group of 15 to 18 years.
People aged 15 years and above need to register on Co-WIN's website to book vaccinations.
Those born in 2007 or earlier will be able to register for this vaccination.
Vaccination wishers can either make a fresh registration on the Co-WIN website or register for this vaccination using an account already created.
This means that people above the age of 18 who already have Co-WIN accounts can register their family members in the age group of 15 to 18 years on the same.
People in the age group of 15 to 18 years will also be able to register directly by visiting the vaccination center. The day and time of vaccination can be booked either on the Co-WIN website or by visiting the vaccination center directly.
Dr. Sunila Garg is the National President of the Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine. She is also a member of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission India Task Force.
Dr. Garg says that the decision to vaccinate children is an important step because children of 15, 16, and 17 years are very close to becoming adults.
Dr. Sunila Garg says, “This is the reason why this age group will also be given the same dose of vaccine which is being given to people above 18 years of age. Children between 15 to 18 years will also be given two doses. and will be given at an interval of six weeks because now they will be vaccinated.
Why Covaccine?
Bharat Biotech, the manufacturer of Covaccine, has said that Covaccine has been found safe and effective for children in Phase II and III studies.
Bharat Biotech's Covaccine was tested on 525 children between June 2021 and September 2021. This trial was done on children between the age of 2 years to 18 years.
The trial was divided into three age groups. The first category was for children of 12 to 18 years, the second category from 6 to 12 years, and the third category was for children of 2 to 6 years.
The information received from this trial was handed over to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization in October 2021. Recently, the Drugs Controller General of India gave emergency approval to use this vaccine for the age group of 12 to 18 years.
According to Bharat Biotech, no adverse event was observed in this trial other than the pain caused by injection. According to the company, 374 children reported symptoms of mild or moderate severity, of which 78.6 percent of the cases resolved within a day.
Bharat Biotech states that Covaccine has been specially designed to provide the same dosage for adults and children.
Was the decision taken because of the Omicron threat?
Public health expert Dr. Chandrakant Laharia says that Omicron does not pose any additional risk to children. He says, "Children are still at the same risk as they were before. So this decision can't be linked to Omicron."
Dr. Laharia says that serious illness is rare in children, but it is very important to prevent infection from children to others. He says, "There was absolutely no consensus on vaccinating children, but that did not mean that they would never be vaccinated. The only question was what age children should be given priority."
According to Dr. Laharia, experts believe that the priority is vaccination of adults. He says, "As far as immunization of children is concerned, experts say that children in the age group of 12 to 17 years can be given priority because they fall in the high-risk category."
On the other hand, Dr. Sunila Garg believes that ever since Omicron has come, it has complicated the whole matter.
She says, "People made a lot of noise that children should be vaccinated, but now that the vaccines are going to be given, many people are hesitant. Just like when the vaccination campaign started in the 80s, people were There was a lot of hesitation in getting my kids vaccinated."
At the same time, she says that the vaccine will be beneficial for children who are already suffering from any disease. She says, "The new National Nutrition Survey data that has come out now shows that the problem of obesity in children is increasing. According to these data, 4 out of 100 children in India are obese and this obesity problem is more common among young children." Rather more in older children."
What will happen next?
Health experts say that there is also a possibility of vaccination of children below 15 years of age in the coming time.
Dr. Sunila Garg says that over time children below 15 years of age will also have to think about getting the vaccine. "The vaccine can be given to children over the age of 12," she says.
Dr. Chandrakant Laharia says that in the coming time, nasal vaccine (given in the nose) will come which will protect children from disease as well as reduce infection.
He says, "A few selected countries have started vaccinating children under the age of 12. In most countries, vaccination of children has not started and in most of the countries where it has started, most of the countries have started vaccinating children between the age of 12 to 17 years. We are focusing. Every country's situation is different and every country's decision-making process is different."
According to Dr. Sunila Garg, after the advent of ZyCov-D, Corbevax, and Nasal Vaccine, vaccination of children below 15 years of age can be thought of.
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