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Goa panel for vaccinating lactating mothers on priority before '3rd Covid wave'
The expert committee of doctors from the government and the private sector, set up to advise the government on the third wave, has also recommended that those suffering from co-morbidities related to kidney, liver and diabetes are also prioritised for vaccination within the 18-44 age group.
Goa should prioritise vaccination of lactating mothers having children below two years of age among the 18-45 age group with an aim to safeguard both mother and child against a potential third wave of Covid-19 pandemic, an expert committee has recommended to the government.
“Mothers that are lactating were earlier not in the recommended category of persons to be vaccinated, but now we know it is definitely a positive [thing] to vaccinate all lactating mothers because they would pass on the antibodies to the babies and also be in a position to handle the baby, if god forbid the child tends to become Covid positive later on. So this is one age group we suggest to the task force to put on priority basis,” Dr Harshad Kamat, a member of the expert committee said.
The expert committee of doctors from the government and the private sector, set up to advise the government on the third wave, has also recommended that those suffering from co-morbidities related to kidney, liver and diabetes are also prioritised for vaccination within the 18-44 age group.
“We have requested the DHS that two groups should be given priority for vaccination within the 18-44 age groups: Lactating mothers (whose children are less than 2 years old) and those who have diabetes or renal failure or liver problems within the 18-44 age groups since they can develop severe symptoms,” Dr Jagdish Cacodcar also a member of the task force, said.
The expert group anticipates that the speculated third wave of the pandemic could arrive around September and impact a greater proportion of children. While the group's recommendations are in line with several individual experts who have said that a potential third wave of the disease could impact more kids, the Central government's principal scientific advisor K Vijay Raghavan had earlier this month said that the next wave may not take place equally at every place if adequate precautions were taken.
“We saw that last year, 7-8% children were positive and across the last three months, around 8-12% infected were children below the age of 18 years. So the percentage was going up. What was in single digits [during the first wave] has reached 11-12%. The same is the pattern all over India as those under 20 years of age comprise 12% of all confirmed Covid cases,” Dr Cacodcar added.
The group has also recommended increasing the number of facilities to treat children since they are yet to be vaccinated against the disease.
“It's not that the 3rd wave will affect only the children, but the proportion of children [among the infected] is likely to increase,” Dr Cacodcar added.
“By what proportion will Covid-19 cases among the children rise is dependent on infectivity of the organism, schools reopening, people’s complacency and resumption of crowded gatherings,” Dr Cacodcar said. The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected nearly 145,000 people in Goa and claimed 2,341 lives.
