Anticipating The COVID-19 Wave In Children, India Prepares Pedriatic Beds With Oxygen

Ilstrasi sentra vaksinasi COVID-19 in India. (Wikimedia Commons / Ganesh Dhamodkar)

JAKARTA - Several states in India are building health care facilities, with more beds for children, plus oxygen, due to concerns that children returning to school without being vaccinated will be among the most vulnerable during the third wave of coronavirus infections.

Health administrators have noticed a trend in the United States, where a record number of children have been hospitalized for the Delta variant of coronavirus, which was first discovered in India, has surged through the unvaccinated population.

During the second wave of infections in India that peaked in April and May, hundreds of thousands of people died from lack of oxygen and medical facilities. Now, there are fears another third wave will gather during the winter months.

"We don't know how the virus will behave, but we can't be unprepared this time," Maharashtra State Children's Task Force Head Suhas Prabhu said.

"(In the future) no mother has to run around looking for a hospital bed when her child is sick," he continued.

The Maharashtra government has stockpiled medicines, built facilities for additional pediatric beds and oxygen supply in new centers in Mumbai and Aurangabad.

Built on vacant lots or in a redesigned stadium, the Mumbai facility has a total of 1,500 child beds, mostly with oxygen.

"We can double this capacity if needed," said Suresh Kakani, a senior official at Mumbai's civil service.

In the neighboring state of Gujarat, authorities have prepared 15,000 pediatric oxygen beds, said health commissioner Jai Prakash Shivahare.

To note, India provides vaccines for people over the age of 18 years. Most of the vaccines administered in India are made by AstraZeneca, while vaccines produced by local producer Bharat Biotech are also used.

Other local companies Zydus Cadilla and Bharat Biotech are separately testing a COVID-19 vaccine for children, but results are not expected until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, schools in 11 of India's 28 states have opened after more than a year of closure, raising fears this could be a breeding ground for the virus.

In March 2021, less than 1 percent of deaths from coronavirus in India were in the under 15 age group, according to the health ministry, and officials said the severity of the disease in this age group was minimal so far.

Separately, epidemiologists say there is no evidence to suggest that Delta variants or other mutations affect children more than other parts of the population.