Elaborating his viewpoint, Rai said there should be a clear-cut objective of any intervention. The objective is to either prevent coronavirus infection or severity or death.
A senior epidemiologist at AIIMS who is the principal investigator of Covaxin trials for adults and children at the institute on Sunday termed the Centre’s decision to vaccinate children against COVID “unscientific” and said it will not yield any additional benefit.
Dr Sanjay K Rai, who is also the president of the Indian Public Health Association, said before implementing the decision, data from countries that have already started vaccinating children should be analysed.
In an address to the nation on Saturday night, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccination against COVID-19 for children in the 15 to 18 age group will start from January 3.
This will reduce the worries of children going to schools and colleges and their parents, and boost the fight against the pandemic, he said, adding that the move is also likely to aid in the normalisation of teaching in schools.
“I am a great fan of PM Modi for his selfless service to the nation and taking right decisions at the right time. But I am completely disappointed with his unscientific decision to vaccinate children,” Rai said in a tweet tagging the Prime Minister’s Office.
Elaborating his viewpoint, Rai said there should be a clear-cut objective of any intervention. The objective is to either prevent coronavirus infection or severity or death.
“But according to whatever knowledge we have about vaccines, they are unable to make a significant dent in the infection. In some countries, people are getting infected even after taking booster shots.
