Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Aug 24: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said that vaccinating children against Covid holds key to reach herd immunity.
In a statement issued here, DAK President, Dr Nisar ul Hassan said that we cannot achieve herd immunity until children are vaccinated.
“Herd immunity is achieved when most of the population in a community is immune to the disease so that the virus no longer spreads easily from person to person,” he said.
Dr Nisar said early in the pandemic, it was estimated that around 70 per cent of people would need to be vaccinated to reach the threshold at which the virus would not freely circulate.
“But the spread of more infectious Delta variant has pushed the threshold for herd immunity to well over 80 per cent and potentially approaching 90 per cent,” he added.
He said that herd immunity is unlikely to be achieved if children who constitute a significant proportion of the population are unvaccinated. “There are around 4.8 million children in Jammu and Kashmir, which represent 38.4 per cent of JK’s 1.25 crore population,” he said.
The DAK President said the Covid-19 pandemic cannot be curbed until children are vaccinated. “While children appear to face less danger of severe illness or death from Covid, they can still spread the virus,” he said.
He said the Covid-19 vaccine is required for children to return to classrooms and is important for ensuring a safe learning environment in schools.
“Vaccinating children is crucial to avert third Covid wave which is predicted to happen sometime in the fall of this year and is expected to affect kids the most,” he said.z
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