Karachi
February 6, 2021
Leading infectious diseases’ experts and vaccinologists have warned that herd immunity against the coronavirus cannot be achieved globally without vaccinating children, arguing that vaccinating the adults may prevent mortality, but the transmissibility of the virus would continue in the unvaccinated populations, especially children.
They said studies to vaccinate children are underway although these studies started very late. They made it clear that the transmission of the virus will not stop even by vaccinating 70 per cent of the adult populations globally.
“We may not be able to achieve herd immunity globally unless we vaccinate children as they are both in the numerator as well as in the denominator. We might be able to reduce mortality if don’t vaccinate children, but we will not be able to reduce transmissibility unless children are also vaccinated,” said Dr Saad B. Omer, the inaugural director of the Yale Institute for Global Health, while delivering an online talk on “Covid-19 Vaccines: From Trial to Market” on late Thursday night.