Covid: Andhra Pradesh to vaccinate all mothers with children under 5 years old
Premium- A Task Force, set up by Andhra government, has predicted that 4.5 lakh children could be affected by possible third wave of Covid
The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to vaccinate all mothers having children under 5 years of age. This is a precautionary measure in the wake of predictions of third wave of Covid, Andhra Pradesh Medical and Health Principal Secretary Anil Kumar Singhal said on Monday.
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Singhal said that the chief minister observed that "if children get Covid, their mothers should also stay at hospitals". "There are almost 20 lakh such mothers, they will be inoculated along with those aged 45+ years," the officer said.
There have been predictions that the possible third wave may affect children.
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News agency PTI reported that a Task Force, set up by Andhra government, has predicted that 4.5 lakh children could be affected by possible third wave. It, however, said that the timing for the third wave would remain unknown since variations in the virus were unpredictable.
Of the total cases reported in the first and second waves in the state, 2.72 per cent were children in the 0-9 age group and 8.35 per cent in the 10-19 age group, the report said. The experts observed that it was inaccurate to say children were not infected in the first two waves. They were infected but were either asymptomatic or had mild illness.
"With the current low and slow testing capacity and negligible sequencing in the country, we will not be able to characterise the variant soon enough, which is the most critical element in addressing the right population and the outbreak at large," the Task Force was quoted as saying by PTI.
"Based on what is currently known it is quite possible that there may be an apparent increase in the absolute number of cases in children during the third wave," the Task Force added.
On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed that two companies were working on vaccines for children.
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