Covid Crisis: Safeguarding children from future waves with vaccination

New Delhi, June 6 India and several other countries have been undergoing the deadly second wave of Covid-19 and fear looms large that future waves might predominately infect children.

The world is gearing up to efficiently deal with this dynamic situation. The world is now focusing on a universal vaccination against Covid and a vaccination for children has emerged as a top priority.

Western countries are moving ahead with the vaccine for children aged 12 to 15 and efforts are being made to go even younger than this age group. Given the vulnerability of children against future waves, countries are planning to vaccinate children from 2-years onwards.

During previous waves, children's risk of becoming very ill or dying with Covid-19 was less and throughout the pandemic, they have very rarely needed hospital treatment. But the situation is expected to change during future waves.

Recently, government leaders, members of civil society, the UN, academia, the private sector from across the world participated in the virtual event 'Lives in the Balance' and spoke out about the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's, children's, and adolescents' health, and unveiled targeted, time-bound commitments for focused action. The e-Summit was organised by The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health