DNA Exclusive: COVID-19 tests, decreasing cases and vaccine for children ahead of third wave

New Delhi: India witnessed a decrease in the number of COVID-19 cases today. A total of 2,29,942 new cases were registered on May 10. It was the first time in this month that the number of cases in a day has been so low. Hence, many are considering this to be a good sign.

Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Tuesday (May 11) discussed the decreasing trend of COVID cases and the need for vaccines for children.

Whenever the number of coronavirus cases decreases, there is an apprehension that maybe the number of tests was reduced. That is, due to fewer tests, there was a reduction in new cases. But it was not the case this time.

On May 6, for the first time, as many as 4.14 lakh new cases were recorded in a single day. That day the total number of tests conducted stood at 18.26 lakh across the country. On May 10, the number of new cases was 3.29 lakh out of 18.50 lakh tests.

This means that the number of tests has not decreased but the number of new patients has come down. Therefore, it can be considered to be a good sign.

However, it would be only good as long as this trend is not limited to just one day and continues in the days to come.

Need for vaccines for children

In Canada, children between 12 and 18 years of age have started getting vaccinated. The country is administering Pfizer's vaccine for this purpose.

America has also approved the emergency use of this vaccine on children between 12 and 15 years.

The question is, when will the vaccine be available for children in India?

About 30 percent of India’s population is under 18 years of age. The population of children between 11 and 17 years of age is 17.5 crore. Doctors predict that children of this age group will be most vulnerable to the third wave of coronavirus. This means 17.5 crore children will be at risk of infection. It is, therefore, necessary to vaccinate them.

The Serum Institute of India has said it will make vaccines for children by October. Bharat Biotech has said it will make available vaccines for children between the age of 12 to 18 years by May-June. But so far these vaccines are in trial stages only. The Pfizer vaccine is not likely to be available in India any time soon.

What is worrying is that the WHO estimates that in the first wave only 8 percent of the children were affected and most of them recovered without going to the hospital. But in the second wave, some children needed to go to the hospital. In the third wave, it is being said that the new variant of the virus would mainly attack the children.

Therefore, it is very important to have vaccines for children before the third wave strikes.