Vaccination of children is about to happen soon. Whenever vaccination begins for children in the age group of 12 to 17, it is very likely to be given first to those who have serious underlying condition. Just the way it has been during the 2nd phase, which involved people in the age group of 45 years and more, the vaccine will first be administered to those who have comorbidities.

As per the experts, those above the age of 12 with comorbidities should be vaccinated first as they have higher risk of fatalities as compared to normal children. The Union Health Ministry is yet to take a final call on this. It has also been said that the prioritisation based on comorbidities would be done only after the availability of vaccines.

The clinical trials of Covaxin on children are still underway to assess the safety and immunogenicity. The experts are also of the opinion that since the risk of severe disease and mortality is very low in children, vaccination should be considered when the vaccines are actually effective in preventing transmissions. Chandrakant Lahariya-Health systems and vaccine specialist said, “It has to be fully established that the risks associated with the vaccine outweigh the benefits before kids are offered the shots”.