Young people are getting infected slightly more in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and the presence of variants may be one of the reasons, Dr. Balram Bhargava has said.
Dr Balram Bhargava, the Chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said there are primarily two reasons for the increase in the number of young people becoming infected in the ongoing second phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. He did not rule out the possibility of variants playing a role, however, he said “We have found that younger people are getting slightly more involved because suddenly they have gone out and there are variants also prevalent in the nation which may be affecting the younger people as well.”
Dr Bhargava was asked whether the Centre is taking any steps to begin vaccination of the children who are said to be the target of the third wave of the pandemic during a press conference held by the health ministry on Tuesday. According to Dr. Bhargava, there isn’t much of a difference in age between the first and second waves. “We have been analysing the date since August. People above the age of 45 years are more vulnerable to any adverse outcome and the hospitalised mortality is around 9.6 to 9.7 per cent,” he said.
Despite the fact that an increasing number of young people are reporting the infection as part of the ongoing wave, which began in March, the Centre refuted reports of a shift in age groups in April. According to data released in April by the Centre, 31% of those affected in the first wave were under the age of 30, while the percentage rose to 32% in 2021.
K Vijay Raghavan, the government’s chief scientific adviser, recently stated that the country should be prepared for a third wave of the pandemic, which can be avoided if proper precautions are taken. Since then, various reports have claimed that this wave will have a greater impact on children. In preparation for the third wave, the Maharashtra government has begun establishing paediatric care centres throughout the state.
