63% people want children vaccinated against Covid-19, finds survey
Health experts view the repsonse towards the inoculation of children as an impetus for the vaccination drive against Covid-19.
At least 63% of the parents are ready for their children to get inoculated against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) when such a vaccination drive is launched.
The findings published in Journal of Family Medicine and Family Healthcare, and based on a recent survey conducted by the Community Medicine department of New Delhi-based Vardhaman Mahavir College & Safdarjung Hospital, show that while 70.44% of the respondents were willing to get their vaccinated against the virus, 29.55% of them showed unwillingness.
Meanwhile, 72.58% of the healthcare workers, who were among the 467 respondents surveyed for the study, said they would get their children inoculated even as 27.41% responded negatively.
The respondents surveyed, including healthcare workers, professionals, homemakers and students, were asked a set of 13 questions for the study, according to Live Hindustan.
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Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of the Department of Community Medicine at Vardhaman Mahavir College & Safdarjung Hospital, said the people have shown a positive outlook towards the vaccination of children. “It is positive news that 63.1% of the people are ready for the vaccination of the children against Covid-19. This would help carry on the inoculation drive at a steady pace,” the doctor said.
The survey also covered the people's response towards the type of vaccination when it comes to children. While 44.3% repondents said they would want an oral vaccine for children, 55.6% of them preferred the dose through injection.
Last month, the chief of Centre's working group on Covid-19, Dr NK Arora, said Zydus Cadila's Covid-19 vaccine, ZyCoV-D, approved for children in the age group of 12-17 years, would be rolled out in October. The vaccine received emergency-use approval on August 20.
The third phase of clinical trial of ZyCoV-D on around 27,000 volunteers showed presented an efficacy rate of 66.6%. A first-of-its-kind DNA vaccine that produces the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 to elicit an immune response, ZyCoV-D is an intradermal vaccine is to be applied using a ‘needle-free injector’, which the manufacturer says will help in reducing side effects.