Andhra Pradesh to give COVID vaccines to mothers of kids below 5-yrs

VIJAYAWADA: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to administer Covid-19 jab to mothers having kids below five years, estimated to be 15-20 lakhs in the state soon, keeping in mind the impending third wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Health principal secretary Anil Kumar Singhal told media persons here on Monday that in the wake of the third wave of the pandemic, the state government had decided to administer Covid vaccine to mothers of children below five years of age as they were also supposed to stay put at the hospitals along with their children infected with the virus to undergo medical treatment and added that they were going to issue modalities for its implementation to the district collectors shortly.

The senior health official said nearly 600 private hospitals were given permission for Covid care in the state and added that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had instructed them to find out how many paediatric wards could be set up and infrastructure to be strengthened in such hospitals for kids. He said the mothers with kids along with people aged above 45 years would be given the jab.

The official said that AP registered 1,623 black fungus cases by Monday and added that the Centre had released 13,105 injections of amphotericin B for their treatment. He also said that the state government had ordered for purchase of 91,650 injections and added that as the Centre was allocating the quantum of injections to the states, they were purchasing its equivalent injections.

He said a state level committee with experts was formed for preventive measures for the Covid third wave of the pandemic in the state and added that based on its report, the Chief Minister discussed measures to be taken up to control its spread. With regard to Covid infected patients in both the first and second wave of the pandemic, he said that in the country, children aged between zero to 10 years, 3.35% were affected while in AP, it was 2.72%. Similarly, children aged from 11 to 20 years, 8.38% were affected at national level while in AP, it was 8.35%, in case of people aged 21-30 years, infection rate was 21.79% at national level and 20.28% in AP and in case of people aged between 31-40 years, 21.91% were affected at national level and 21.29 were affected in AP. Moreover, in AP, people aged below 20 years, nearly 11% were affected with the virus, he added.