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India has vaccinated over 70% of its adult population with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The rapid scale-up of its vaccination program is believed to have played a role in maintaining the number of cases in the country following the massive second wave that hit the country earlier this year. As the country seeks to embrace normalcy in the economic and social spheres, there are, however, vaccinations to consider for those under the age of 18. However, the country has yet to clear Covid vaccines for children, with experts pointing to both data and supplies as key factors that must be taken into account before this happens. Here’s what you need to know.
What are the perspectives on childhood immunization?
The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that children and adolescents have been seen to have milder episodes of infection with Covid-19 compared to adults, “so unless they are part of a higher risk group for Covid -19 severe, it is less urgent to vaccinate them than the elderly, people with chronic diseases and health workers ”.
However, the WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) has cleared the Pfizer / BionTech mRNA vaccine for use by people 12 years of age and older. The World Health Agency says children aged 12 to 15 who are at high risk may be offered this vaccine alongside other priority groups for immunization.
He adds that childhood vaccine trials are currently underway and that he “will update his recommendations when the evidence or the epidemiological situation warrants a change in policy.”
But while the WHO position on the issue of childhood immunization is also informed by the view that the most vulnerable adult population in countries that have fallen behind in immunization should be prioritized, many countries – mainly developed countries – are lining up shots for populations under the age of 18 or who have already started giving them doses.
For example, the UK health authorities have authorized a single dose of Pfizer vaccine for all 12 to 15 year olds. BBC quoted Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer of England, as saying that the idea behind extending Covid-19 vaccinations to children is that it will allow schools to function more normally, as the absence from school “was extremely difficult for the children”.
The BBC added that while vaccination of children is expected to reduce cases, it is not considered to stop the spread of Covid-19 in schools. In addition, just as in adults, also in children, vaccination is considered to protect against serious infection.
What did the experts say in India?
As the country reached the milestone of administering 100 crore injections to its population aged 18 and over, several health experts told news18.com that there was no emergency to immunize children against infection.
While the local Covaxin – manufactured by Bharat Biotech – received a recommendation from the Subject Matter Expert Committee (SEC) on vaccines on October 12 for emergency use in children, the national medicines regulator did not not yet allowed people under 18 with the Center says it favors extraordinary caution when it comes to launching a vaccination campaign for children.
The ZyCoV-D vaccine, which does not require a needle injection and received an emergency sign in August has also been tested in adolescents aged 12 and older, but it is not yet available on the Marlet.
Dr Gagandeep Kang, vaccine expert and professor at the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, Christian Medical College (Vellore), said there were many questions that needed to be answered before India started immunizing children and that “There should be clarity on why we want to vaccinate children and with what vaccine.”
“Should we use inactivated virus vaccines or should we wait for mRNA vaccines?” There are many questions we need to deliberate on and answer appropriately. We do not yet know enough about the performance of these vaccines. Right now we don’t have enough data to make informed decisions, ”she told news18.com.
Another factor in the decision to immunize children is the provision of a sufficient number of vaccines. With an eligible adult population of nearly 95 crore, India’s complete Covid-19 injection requirement is around 190 crore doses. Of that number, more than 100 crores of shots have now been administered, but there are still crores of shots to be provided for the target audience.
The head of India’s Covid task force, Dr VK Paul, was quoted as saying by the PTI news agency that “a pragmatic decision [on vaccination of children and adolescents] can be taken [only] by balancing supply and potential eligibility ”.
Which countries immunize children?
The U.S. government is working on plans to provide vaccines to children in the Age group 5 to 11 years pending approval from the country’s drug monitoring agency. The shot identified by the goal is the one developed by Pfizer / BioNTech, which is already cleared for emergency use in 12-15 year olds in the country. Pfizer said last month that a Phase 2/3 trial showed its Covid-19 vaccine to be safe and generated a “robust” antibody response in children aged 5 to 11. The two-dose regimen he tested on children used a 10-microgram dose – lower than the 30-microgram dose used for people 12 and older.
In Europe, a multitude of countries have started vaccines for children or prepare plans for launching campaigns for adolescents. France is administering Covid-19 vaccines to people aged 12 and over if they have parental consent, while Germany agreed in August to make vaccination accessible to all children aged 12 to 17.
Cuba has rolled out vaccines for children as young as 2 while China has also approved emergency use of its Sinovac vaccine for those aged 3 to 17.
As cases in children are said to be on the rise, including in India fueled by the Delta variant, experts say vaccination for this demographic will protect not only them, but also adults, who are also known to contract the disease. infection – called breakthrough cases – even after receiving their full dose of a Covid vaccine.
Data last month from a group of experts working on India’s anti-Covid strategy indicated that cases among children had risen from 2.8% in March to around 7% in August.
Experts said Johns Hopkins Medicine that although Covid-19 in children “is sometimes milder than in adults, some children infected with the coronavirus can contract serious lung infections, become very ill and require hospitalization”.
They said children can also present with complications such as multisystem inflammatory syndrome that may require intensive care or may exhibit “lasting symptoms that affect their health and well-being.”
Experts in India have also spoken about the long-term impact of mild Covid on children, saying it could become one of the main reasons for vaccinating children.
“Looking at adult profiles of a long Covid impact on different organs, we don’t know if the side effects of long Covid also occur in children. We don’t know what the impact of post-Covid side effects would be on children’s organs. Therefore, India must look rationally and make a collective decision, ”said Dr Raman Gangakhedkar, former scientist at ICMR.
As for the side effects, the experts said they were the same for children as they were for adults and included pain at the injection site, headache, muscle or joint pain, as well as pain. fever and chills which are usually temporary and usually go away within 48 hours.
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