Welcome Decision On Jabs For Children And Booster Dose
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
By Linus Garg
First publised on 2021-12-26 06:55:14
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
In his address to the nation on Christmas Day, Prime Minister Modi expanded the scope of the vaccination drive by including children between 15 to 18 years and also announced that frontline and healthcare workers and senior citizens with comorbidities will be given a booster dose from January 2022. Modi also urged the citizens not to let their guard down and follow Covid protocols, especially using the mask, religiously to prevent the third wave. The Prime Minister emphasized that while there was no need to panic, there was a need to remain vigilant, careful, cautious and informed.
It is good that the vaccination age has been lowered. With schools reopening all over India from Class IX onwards, the need to vaccinate children in the age group of 15 to 18 was urgent. Once they are included in the vaccination drive and a good number of them get the first dose, the age should be further lowered to 12 and more classes should be reopened, depending on the way Omicron pans out. The education system has suffered a lot in the last two years and it has taken a toll on the mental health of children. We need to restore normalcy, conditions permitting, as soon as possible and vaccinating children is a major step towards that.
As for the booster dose, India has been prevaricating for long even as the rest of the world has gone ahead with it. Hence, it is good that the government has decided to give booster doses to frontline and healthcare workers and senior citizens. With all studies indicating that vaccine efficacy wanes in 6 months and with the Omicron scare looming large, a booster dose is needed. Some months from now, the third dose must be made open for all.
But at the same time, the government must ensure that vaccines are available in sufficient numbers. A couple of weeks back, Serum Institute had indicated that it would be forced to cut down on Covishield production as government orders were not forthcoming. Since India will need vaccines in large numbers in the next few months to jab kids and give booster doses to those already fully vaccinated, the government must place pre-orders and ensure full production. Funds should not be a problem as the government has spent only Rs 19675cr (till November 2021) out of the Rs 35000cr it had earmarked for the purpose.
