Covid-19: Here’s why you should get your kid vaccinated
Two years back, the covid pandemic grappled the world. The world shut down for months, and after the long wait lined with death of loved ones, watching the near and dear ones have the terror of the virus and stopping the normal life and closing us inside the house, finally things are starting to be normal again.
As the countries have started immunising the citizens with the vaccinations, things are getting better and the world is finally opening up to get back to the normal life again. However, there’s a part of the population which is getting very less talked about – it is the children.
The children suffered a lot throughout the pandemic. Their education system shifted from offline to online, suddenly they got trapped inside the homes and were made to continue with their studies through the screen, schools closed and the sudden change took a huge toll on their mental, emotional and social health. Speaking to HT Lifestyle, Dr. Arun Wadhwa, MBBS, MD Pediatrics said, “Now that the schools have reopened, none of us would want to keep them from going outside. However, there is an increased risk of infection, and you, as parents, might be hesitant to send them to school. In a situation like this, vaccinating them becomes even more critical. Nearly 42% of 13,400 deaths (as of March 2022) reported under 20 were from the 0-9 years age group, indicating that the virus impacts the kids. Over 60-70% of the children who contract the virus are asymptomatic. Immunizing the kids will not only reduce the possibility of them carrying the virus unknowingly, but it will also mitigate the intensity of the infection.”
He further added that kids with comorbidities are at a higher risk of contracting the virus. Children with disorders such as low immunity status, neurological illness, juvenile diabetes, congenital heart disease, obesity, uncontrolled asthma should be vaccinated immediately. He also spoke about herd immunity – “Vaccines save lives, but they won’t be able to completely end the pandemic unless we achieve herd immunity. In India, nearly 63% of the population is fully vaccinated with continued pandemic, and immunizing children will take the figure to over 80-90%, reducing the chances of transmission of virus which may bring to an end to pandemic.” However, selecting a safe and effective vaccine with proper safety data is important to be given to the children in order to help in stopping the pandemic.