First children-friendly COVID-19 vaccination centre comes up in Delhi
Oct 18, 2021
By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], October 18 : One of the private imaging centres in Delhi has become the first COVID-19 vaccination centre for children in India. The centre would cater to children above 2 years to 18 years and their vaccination process.
The new children-friendly COVID-19 vaccination centre has been given a catchy look and feel. The centre has been painted with cartoons and animal themes in a way that will help to reduce the injection fear among the children. It also has paintings of popular cartoons like Motu-Patlu, dinosaurs etc on the wall. This kids vaccination centre is getting a lot of praise from the residents and Children are also coming to see the centre.
"If we see demographic distribution then the age group of 0-18 years isn't less. We can't leave them unvaccinated, because diseases in children are not severe but still, they are potential carriers," said Dr Sameer Bhati, Director, Star Imaging and Path Labs.
The purpose behind opening this centre is to engage children post-vaccination when they will be under observation and to remove fear from their minds.
Dr Bhati further said, "The anxiety and fear that parents have for children regarding vaccination, and engaging children post-vaccination is important. We have given it a catchy look in a way that can engage children in other activities after vaccination."
The guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination for children who come under comorbidities is still pending. It's expected that these guidelines may come soon after the complete clearance of DCGI to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has already given clearance to Zydus Cadila's DNA vaccine ZyCoV-D for those above 12-18 years.
"The comorbid group in children is also at high risk. The obesity group is also at high risk. According to the latest studies, we are waiting for Covid-19 vaccination guidelines for children who come under comorbidities. SEC has recommended Covaxin also," he added.
