Fortis Healthcare said, “As and when the approved vaccine for children between 2-18 years is rolled out, the hospital is planning to tie up with schools, colleges and housing societies to vaccinate the maximum number of children.”
The government is expected to come out with guidelines for vaccinating children next week. It has so far approved Zydus Cadila’s vaccine ZyCov-D for use in children as young as 12 years old. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is also expected to get the drug regulator’s nod soon after its subject expert committee (SEC) recently recommended its use in children as young as two years old. The hospitals are looking at the feasibility to do vaccination in school premises. They are asking the schools to provide infrastructure and take consent from parents.
“We have been having conversations with the schools,” a senior executive in a private hospital said. “Many have said, ‘once the government decides, we will firm up our stands’. School infrastructure can be used for vaccination,” the person said on condition of anonymity.
Many schools have got in touch with hospitals on their own as they reopen. “The schools are initiating talks not only regarding the vaccination but also about the safety protocol that they should follow as they reopen,” said an official at Indraprastha Apollo in Delhi.
Arvind Taneja, chief advisor, paediatrics and infectious diseases, at Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, too, said the hospital has been receiving queries about children’s vaccinations from parents and schools specially before sessions reopen.
“Covid vaccines are very reliable and effective in children,” he claimed. “Since schools are reopening, all children above 5 years should be vaccinated on priority since they can be infected or be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.”
