A committee of experts appointed on the directions of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has warned that the third wave of Covid-19 is already in and may peak around October. The committee, in its report submitted to the PMO, has also pointed out that the chidren may be at risk in the same way this time that elders are, Times of India reported. The expert commitee was set up by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM).
The report specifically warns about the inadequate medical facilities for children, noting that “pediatric facilities — doctors, staff, equipment like ventilators, ambulances, etc. are nowhere near what may be required in case a large number of children become infected.”
"Third Wave Preparedness : Children's Vulnerability and Recovery " is a study report that explores the likelihood that Covid will affect children and the necessary strategies to deal with the pandemic.
Children with chronic conditions and those with disabilities should be focused for vaccination, according to the report's findings. Despite "strict interventions", the report predicted that the third wave would peak by the end of October. An 82% shortage of pediatricians in primary health care, according to an expert report cited in the publication, has made experts concerned.
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India experienced the worst phase of the first two covid waves; the first wave primarily affected the elderly, but the second wave shook the entire country. As the Preparations for second wave were woefully insufficient. People were seen making arrangements for hospital beds, Oxygen cylinders all by themselves. In order to prevent such a situation again, the Government has strictly asked to make Arrangements for children as they are the unvaccinated Part of the society and are most likely to get affected by the third wave.
There's a lot at stake when it comes to protecting children under 18 from the different strains of the Covid-19 virus, especially since they're among one of the most vulnerable and unvaccinated groups.
According to thereport, the third wave has already arrived which is evident from the rising R-value, increasing reproduction rate of Covid-19 which has gone up from 0.9 to 1 over the last week of July.
As the new and more virulent mutated variants of SARS Cov-2 have demonstrated the ability to evade immunity from previous infections and, in some cases, even the prevalent vaccines, the third wave may exacerbate the country's current Covid situation. Herd immunity has been increased to 80-90 percent, according to the report.
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