India’s Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated on Sunday that over 70% of the country’s population in the age group of 15-18 years had received the first dose of the vaccine. Now the question arises if kids younger than 15 will be getting vaccinated soon or not.
Vaccine For Kids
According to Mandaviya, no recommendations for beginning the inoculation of children aged between five and fifteen years old have been made so far by health experts. He made the statements while attending a press conference organized by the Bharatiya Janta Party to discuss the Union Budget of 2022.
Mandaviya made it clear that there was no shortage of vaccines and the ministry was waiting for the green light from health experts, to begin with, the vaccination drive for children under the age of fifteen. He said that the government will only act upon the advice of the scientific community as he also appreciated the efforts of corona warriors in helping the country fight the devastating disease.
Earlier this month, Dr. NK Arora, chairman of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, had suggested that the country might begin vaccinating children in the 12-14-year-old age group from February-end. He had previously emphasized the importance of immunizing adolescents since they are extremely mobile, visiting schools, colleges, and mixing with others, and hence offer a significant risk of infection, particularly with the spread of fast-paced Omicron version of the coronavirus. In October, the use of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin shot was approved by the Subject Expert Committee for inoculating children in the 2 to 18 age group but the government had decided to vaccinate the adult population first, citing low risk and low virus circulation among healthy children.
The Center is patiently waiting for scientific evidence to proceed with the vaccination drive for children under the age of fifteen but several countries around the world have approved vaccination shots for children who are 12 years or older. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12 to 15 year-olds which has prompted several countries such as Denmark, Spain, and France to quickly vaccinate most of the youth population with at least a single dose. Regulators in the USA and Canada have also approved the Pfizer vaccine for children who are 12 years or older. China has gone a step further and approved the vaccine by drug-maker Sinovac for children from three to seventeen years old. The Sinovac vaccine is also being used in Chile for children any older than six years.
The central government is optimistic for the future as it aims to begin vaccinations for children under the age of fifteen soon. India has the largest population of adolescents, estimated at about 253 million by UNICEF. To vaccinate the majority of the population, children in the age group of 5-15 years old need to be vaccinated as soon as possible, and steps have been taken by the government to move in this direction.
