As thousands of students make their way back to classrooms today for the reopening of schools and the mandatory mask mandate lifted, one doctor is advising parents to ensure their children adhere to all health protocols.
On Saturday, an infant was among four COVID-19 fatalities, bringing the number of paediatric deaths for the disease up to roughly 14 since the pandemic began. Although the exact age of the child was not revealed, “infant” is considered to be anywhere from birth to one year old.
The last paediatric death was reported over two months ago on June 1, 2022. As of February 24, there were 12 paediatric fatalities; 11 were under the age of 16 and one was a 17-year-old.
There are currently no World Health Organisation (WHO) approved COVID-19 vaccines for children under the age of five, however, the president of the paediatric society, Dr Virendra Singh, reiterated that babies could be protected if other members of the household are vaccinated- for instance, an older sibling over the age of five.
“It’s not new science,” he said.
“People should actually protect... those who are susceptible and not yet able to be protected. (They) should get a level of what they call herd immunity.”
The current stock, and only one for the foreseeable future, of paediatric COVID-19 vaccines for 5 to 11-year-olds is carded to expire at the end of October. This means children will only be able to receive their first dose by September 30 to allow enough time to elapse for their second dose before the medicine spoils.
As the new school year begins without a mask mandate in place, Dr Singh has urged parents to remind their children about the public health protocols to protect them against acquiring the disease such as continuing to wear their masks.
“The children should continue to wear a mask, they should continue to social distance even within class and break time, they should wash their hands, not touch their face...I would say (they should) carry a little bottle of hand sanitiser in case they need to touch their face through the mask and not share food and meals and cutlery and whatever during school time,” he said.
Last week, the chief education officer Dr Peter Smith said while masks are not longer mandated in schools, they remain highly recommended. —Rishard Khan
