AIIMS senior doctor claims – decision to vaccinate children is not scientific; study should be done first

The corona vaccine will be administered to children between the ages of 15 and 18 in the country from January 3. The government has taken this decision in view of the increasing threat of the new corona variant Omicron. However, there was a debate going on for a long time about whether children should be vaccinated in the country or not. On Sunday, AIIMS senior doctor Sanjay K. Rai has also raised questions on this decision. He has called this decision unscientific i.e. non-scientific. Dr. Rai is an Epidemiologist and President of the Indian Public Health Association.

He says that before implementing this decision, the data of those countries should be studied, where children are already being vaccinated. If we do a risk and benefit analysis, then you will find that the benefits of vaccinating children are few and the risks are high. Let us inform that the trial of Covaxin is going on in AIIMS on adults and children. Dr. Rai is the investigator in this trial.

In a tweet to the PM's Office, Dr. Rai wrote that I am a big fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi for selfless service towards the country and taking timely decisions, but I am disappointed by his unscientific decision on vaccination of children.

On Saturday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that children in the age group of 15 to 18 years would be given the corona vaccine from January 3. He said that this will end the worries of parents of school and college going children and will help in the fight against the pandemic. This step will help schools to resume studies in a normal manner.