New Delhi: At a time when the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is underway, the Government of India has launched a vaccination campaign to protect children in the age group of 15-18 years from the deadly virus.
However, an infectious disease expert has now said that all children above the age of 5 years should be vaccinated at the earliest, as it reduces the mortality rate by 90 percent.
Dr Faheem Yunus, head of the infectious diseases department at the University of Maryland Upper Chesapeake Health in the United States, has stressed that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for children.
Dr Yunus said in an exclusive interview to news agency ANI, “I think the current science clearly says that children above five years of age should be vaccinated, vaccination is safe, then it is supply and demand and basic It becomes a question of framework and how quickly can you roll out those vaccines and what is the level of vaccine hesitancy in your community? All children of the U.S. should be vaccinated.”
When asked about the high rate of infection in children in the US, he said that since the Omicron variant infects the upper respiratory tract more than the lungs and lower respiratory tract, children whose upper respiratory tract is still in the developing stage. Therefore, they have a higher risk of infection.
“We are seeing more children at this stage of the pandemic, but it is not because the virus is more deadly for children,” he said. This is because overall infections are very high. The total number has increased. Our schools are open and our children are not vaccinated. He is the last person to be vaccinated. That’s why we’ve seen a boom in pediatric cases. Another important point is that with Omicron, it is believed to infect the upper respiratory tract more than our lungs and lower respiratory tract. Children physically have an upper respiratory tract in the developmental stage. So maybe that’s one reason we’re getting more hospitalizations. But overall, children are still doing much better than adults and people who are elderly and immunocompromised.
first published:Jan. 19, 2022, 9:49 a.m.
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