Now the way has been cleared for immunization of children in India. Addressing the nation on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that from January 3, children of 15 to 18 years will also be included in the vaccination campaign. He said that this would not only make school-college going children safe but would also give relief to the parents concerned about the safety of the children. In such a situation, the question is, how much risk are children below 15 years of age from corona or the new variant Omicron? Keep in mind that while India is vaccinating children up to the age of 15 years, there is a country where even children of 2 years of age are getting the vaccine.
In all countries including India, the process of getting the vaccine started with the frontline workers. The health workers closest to the threat were vaccinated, and shortly afterwards the elderly and then pregnant women were included. As the vaccine’s success was confirmed and availability increased, the vaccine was opened to youth who were at least 18 years old. But parents kept asking questions on the vaccine for children from the very beginning.
Children can become carriers of virus
Some experts have said that even though children may not show severe symptoms of infection, they may play an important role as carriers of the virus. Studies are still going on regarding Omicron and more details are yet to be revealed. But South Africa, which reported the first case of Omicron, continues to hospitalize a large number of children under the age of five. Experts and doctors all over the world are appealing to vaccinate children.
Without vaccine everyone is at risk, even children
In some countries, children are being vaccinated for a minimum of 12 years, in India this age is 15 years. Initially it was believed that children could defeat corona without a vaccine and their symptoms could be cured at home, but later cases of infection were also seen in children. WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said in an interview that children without a vaccine are at the same risk of infection as others.
Which countries are vaccinating
In such a situation, children between 15 to 18 years in India should get the vaccine compulsorily and children below 15 years of age have to be very cautious. Before India, vaccination of children has started in many countries where the age limit for vaccination is also different from India. Different countries are using different vaccines for children. UK 12-15 years old, Denmark 12-15 years old, Spain 12 to 19 years old, France 12-17 years old, Sweden 12-15 years old, Norway 12-15 years old, USA and Canada 12-17 years old, China 3-17 years old , Chile is vaccinating children under the age of six.
In Cuba, children up to two years of age are getting the vaccine
Similarly, 40 countries of the world are vaccinating their children (of different age groups). In Cuba, even children under the age of two are being vaccinated. Except for mild symptoms, there have been no serious side effects of the vaccine in children anywhere. The mRNA vaccine is being administered to children in the US and Israel. At the same time, DNA vaccine Zycov-D has got approval in India.
Corona Vaccine for Children: 15-18 year olds will get corona vaccine, PM Modi announced the date
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