Kolkata: The first Omicron case in Bengal – a seven-year-old child at Murshidabad – emphasized the need to bring children under the folds of vaccination without further delays, felt experts in Kolkata.
Children and they are under 18 must be vaccinated as soon as possible to prevent the Omicron outbreak, they said.
While most other countries have begun to thin the population below 12 months ago, it is time for India to join them, said the Director of the King Dhar CMRI Pulmonology Hospital.
“This is probably the first case of Omicron in individuals who are not vaccinated in India and point their risks exposed.
This variant seems to transmit the most so far and threaten to influence a large number.
While vaccinated populations have also been influenced by Omicron in several countries – including India – including India – They may suffer from a mild disease due to vaccine shields, “Dhar said.
Pediatrician Santanu Ray felt the children should get a vaccine with the emergence of the second wave.
“A large number of children are infected, but fortunately, most of them suffer from mild disease.
With Omicron, it can be different and we must immediately vaccinate them.
This is a variant that spreads quickly and late reactions can be useless,” Ray said.
All Covid prevention measures must now be improved, especially for children, said Doctor of CMRI Hospital Intensive Satarupa Mukherjee.
“While we need to vaccinate children, there is a substantial part of our adult population which is still not vaccinated.
They must be invested for them, also at risk for children,” he said.
However, no need to press the panic button, he feels.
“So far, the cases of omicron are mostly lightweight and there is only one death so far.
But we have to guard against it,” said Mukherjee.
Dhar added that together with children, those who finished their inoculation 7-8 months ago and may suffer the thinning of antibodies must also be given the third dose.
“They are also at risk of contracting Omicron and can infect children who are not vaccinated,” Dhar added.
“We don’t know much about how Omicron affects children.
Even when this variant is known to cause mild infections, we have seen cases of heavy multi-system inflammatory syndrome in asymptomatic children or only a few symptoms, triggered by other variants.
Therefore, we need to protect our children with vaccines and we can start with immunocompromed children and those who have co-morbidity such as asthma, heart disease and malignancy, “said Mihir Sarkar, Professor of Pediatriatric in Kolkata Prabhas Predi Giri, Assistant Professor of Pediatriatri at the Institute of Child Health, said: “We do not have clear data about the impact of omicron in the vaccine.
But we know for sure that the vaccine will still provide a number of protection, which is better than there is no protection at all.
We must start offering Jab to the early children.
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