New Delhi: The health care group announced that children with “specified comorbidities” will get a free Covid-19 vaccination jab at all Apollo hospitals. The announcement has been made while awaiting government approval for the emergency use of vaccines for children.
A statement by Apollo Hospitals, mentioned in a PTI report, said that it expects approval to vaccinate children soon and launch a vaccination drive soon after the approval.
The eligibility list for the vaccine is expected to include children with hematological, neurological, cardiac, liver, gastrointestinal, rheumatic, cancer, respiratory, genitourinary and developmental disorders. However, this is an indicative list and the final list will be announced as per the government list, Apollo Hospitals said.
“Adults have been the focus of vaccination so far because, in large part, children have been spared from severe Covid infections. However, this is not the case in children with co-morbidities. These children are at risk of serious infection. Moreover, children with comorbidities have also seen a significant psychosocial impact as their individual attention and special treatment and care were not required as a result of the lockdown,” said Dr Prathap C Reddy, President, Apollo Hospitals Group.
For now, Zydus Cadilla’s vaccine ZyCoV-D has received emergency use authorization from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for people above 12 years of age. However, the vaccine has not yet been included in the nationwide vaccination campaign.
In addition, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is also being evaluated by DCGI for emergency use approval for children between 2-18 years. Both these vaccines will be available at Apollo Hospitals after getting government approval and vaccines are available.
“Understanding the gravity of this vaccination, we will give co-morbidities to children with co-morbidities completely free of cost and give them the necessary ‘Kavach’ (shield) against Covid,” Reddy stressed.
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