Covid-19: Once a jab gets nod, kids with co-morbidities to get priority

NEW DELHI: Children with co-morbid conditions are likely to be a priority group for vaccination, once any vaccine is approved for children. Even though most children have less severe Covid infection than adults and are asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, those with pre-existing conditions have more severe manifestations and poorer outcomes, say the guidelines issued by the Centre for Operationalisation of Covid Care for Children and Adolescents.
While Pfizer’s vaccine has been approved outside India for use in children, India is readying its own pipeline of jabs for use in kids between 12-18 years of age. While Zydus Cadila is already testing its vaccine candidate on children, Bharat Biotech is also set to initiate trials. Serum Institute of India has also expressed interest to conduct trials with Covovax in children.
The Centre’s calculation is that around 25 crore doses are required for vaccinating 13-14 crore children in this age group. While 2-3% of infected children are estimated to need hospitalisation, the guidelines also suggest states and districts to prepare for additional bed capacity for paediatric care.
The guidelines also suggest that an indicative projection of 5% children needing hospitalisation should be considered. Though the proportion of less than 20 years’ old is less, the sero-positivity survey showed not much of a difference in prevalence of antibodies among adults and children, indicating kids are as susceptible to infection, but most are asymptomatic.