Children To Become Omicron Carriers If Proper Precautions Aren’t Taken

The Third coronavirus wave was being anticipated from long to outbreak but now that it’s finally here people are lousy yet frenzy for their safety.
The global boom of a new variant called Omicron has started spreading the fear of life and death. Experts fear that the impact on children could be huge.
The first wave and the second wave did not have much effect on the children. We saw deaths in the age group of 40 & above and also people in their 20s. But now doctors are showing some filings to worry about why the new variant, Omicron, will have an effect on children.
The covid-19 vaccination has been given to those over 65 years of age at the initial stage followed by the 45 years and lowering up to the age group of 18.
The vaccination drive has been successful with over 100 crores of people being vaccinated yet the whole vaccination process has been limited to just over 18 years.

Read More: The Arrival of Omicron in India
In some Western countries, vaccines such as Pfizer have been shown to be safe for children, whereas the percentage of children who have been fully vaccinated, over the age group of 12 remains low.
Even though the research conducted in our country has shown that the vaccines we have developed are safe for children, the guidelines and intervals of proper dosage haven’t been drawn and so they remain unvaccinated.

Immediately after its discovery, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Omicron as a ‘variant of Concern’. In the case of Delta, it was not mentioned as a ‘variant of Concern’ even after it turned deadly. But in the case of Omicron, the World Health Organization made this decision after only a hundred people were infected. There are a few reasons for this.
The virus is transmitted at a faster level and the symptoms amongst children might include cough, nausea, headache, fever, lethargy as all the previous covid-19 variants.
Despite the strict guidelines, no decision has been taken on the vaccination of children in our country. However, it may not be possible to give children the same dose as adults. In addition, the dosage should be determined according to the age and weight of the child.
For example, there is a need to scientifically determine the dosage of the vaccine for five- to eight-year-olds, nine- to twelve-year-olds, and twelve- to 18-year-olds. Vaccines such as Covaxin and Covishield, which have already been developed in India, are known to be safe for children but are unlikely to be available to children until proper guidelines are developed. Although it is doubtful whether the current vaccination will withstand Omicron there is an urgent need to make a decision in this regard with a view to the well-being of children.

Although further studies and observations are being made on the prevalence in children compared to variants in the past ranging from alpha to delta, omicron has been found to have significantly more prevalent records.
However, in the case of severity, the research is ongoing. Vaccination of children has not yet taken place even with the awareness of the virus being deadly for children. If proper precautions aren’t taken the chances of the virus transmitting from children to adults and the elderly at home are high and can shut down the country within days. Since the schools and colleges have reopened.
Experts are suggesting that children could be carriers of the disease. South African statistics show that the number of children enrolled with Omicron is high, so children under the age of five are most affected and precautions to stop transmission should be high.

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