Covid-19 Second Wave Infecting Children: Over 79,000 In Top 5 Indian States

The second wave of novel coronavirus cases is taking a tighter grasp in India, with the number of infected cases reaching 1,32,05,926, with 1,45,384 cases surfacing in the last 24 hours.

Reuters

However, data shared by the Union Health Ministry (highlighted in an NDTV report) has revealed that the second wave is affecting younger individuals and children. According to the data by the Union Health Ministry from March 1 to April 4, among the five worst-affected states in the nation, 79,688 cases have been of children.

Children cases across most affected states

Maharashtra is the most affected state in terms of COVID-19 cases and the second wave made things a whole lot worse, especially for kids. Over 60,684 children were infected with SARS CoV-2 in Maharashtra in the aforementioned timeline. From this, 9,881 children are under the age of five years.

Chattisgarh comes second with 5,940 kids infected with the novel coronavirus, out of which 922 are below the age of 5.

Reuters

Karnataka has around 7,327 children infected, from which 871 are below the age of 5. Uttar Pradesh has 3,004 cases of children infected by the novel coronavirus, with 471 below the age of 5.

The capital of the nation, Delhi is also on this list, with 2,733 infected children among which 441 are below the age of 5.

The situation was a lot different a few months back

This is a stark difference compared to union health ministry data from September 2020, where roughly 8 percent of cases were from patients below the age of 17. The fatality rate too was at below one percent, compared to 51 percent deaths in the age group over 60 years of age.

Covid-19 vaccines for children

As of now, vaccines are only permitted to be administered to people over the age of 45 years. There is no Covid-19 vaccine available for children. And while state governments are requesting vaccinations to commence for individuals between the ages of 18-44, no official announcement has been made so far. Vaccines will need to show positive trial results in children, in order to be permitted for vaccination.

AstraZeneca (Covishield in India) was one of the first vaccines that were undergoing trials on children in the UK -- however, the trials were recently suspended after reports surfaced claiming that the vaccine was causing blood clotting in some volunteers.

Reuters

Pfizer is in the race too. It recently announced that its vaccine was safe and effective for kids of 12-15 years of age and has requested FDA for emergency use authorization. The pharmaceutical giant is currently conducting trials for testing the vaccine¡¯s safety and efficacy in kids below the age of 12 years. Moderna too commenced its trials on babies and kids below the age of 12 years.

Johnson & Johnson also announced this week that it has commenced testing its single-dose ¡®Jansen¡¯ COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents.

Vaccines for kids still far away

Even though there are multiple vaccines that are in trials for testing their safety and efficacy for kids and adolescents, only one of these has been approved for use in India -- Covishield -- and that¡¯s the one who had its trial paused due to aforementioned safety concerns.

This means children of our nation will have to wait till a vaccine safe enough for them is cleared for use. Until then, making them aware of personal hygiene, social distancing and enforcing the habit of wearing face masks at all times will be of utmost importance.