Intranasal COVID-19 vaccines would be easier to administer to school children who bear “very mild” disease load but are infectious nonetheless, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria said on January 20.
“It (coronavirus infection) is very mild in children, but they are infectious. They can spread the disease,” he said.
The AIIMS Director added: “The vaccines that have come are not approved for children because there have been no studies conducted on children, but this (vaccination) is a very important step and trials are being done.” Expert panel recommends permission for phase 1 clinical trial of Bharat Biotech's nasal COVID-19 vaccine
Dr Guleria added: “Vaccines for children may come later...Bharat Biotech is trying to get approved a nasal vaccine. Such a vaccine will be very easy to be given to children as it is a spray and not a jab and hence compliance is more.”
“In half-an-hour you can vaccinate an entire class. So, if that (nasal vaccine) is approved it will be even easier to give the vaccine (for COVID-19),” he said.
While interacting personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) at their 16th Raising Day celebrations in New Delhi, Dr Guleria said people who have already contracted COVID-19 should also get vaccinated after around four to six weeks after recovery.
He explained: “A vaccine jab is essential for them (recovered from coronavirus) due to two reasons. One is you are not sure how strong is your post COVID-19 immunity and it has been seen quite a few times that those who had a mild to moderate infection their anti-body response has been less, and we also don’t know how long it will be.”
He added that a vaccine would act as a booster dose for such individuals.
With PTI inputs
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