Hindi English Translation || Editorial || In haste: On vaccinating children against COVID-19

In haste: On vaccinating children against COVID-19

India could have waited for evidence of benefit of vaccinating (टीकाकरण, प्रशासित करना) all children

The emergency use authorisation (EUA) (आपातकालीन उपयोग प्राधिकरण) granted on April 26 to two COVID-19 vaccines (टीका) — Corbevax (a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Indian biopharmacutical firm Biological E. Biological E’s anti-coronavirus shot, Corbevax, is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and is currently undergoing phase 2/3 clinical trials on adults) for children 5-11 years, and Covaxin for children 6-11 years — is one more instance (उदाहरण, अवसर, घटना) where the Indian drug (medicine, medication) regulator has acted in haste (जल्दबाज़ी में, शीघ्रता से). Even if the EUA granted to Covaxin in January 2021 despite no safety and efficacy (प्रभाव, चिकित्सा में, हस्तक्षेप की क्षमता) data of the phase-3 trial (परीक्षण, अध्ययन, प्रयोग) is condoned (approve, sanction, justify, vindicate, endorse) as a desperate (बेकरार, तत्काल, दबाव) measure (उपाय, क्रिया, कदम) in ensuring greater vaccine availability, the regulator (an association that supervises a particular business activity) clearly has no fig leaf to defend the greenlighting of the vaccines for children at this stage. Evidence from across the world after the deadly (घातक, जीवन के लिए खतरा) Delta variant (प्रकार) and the extremely transmissive Omicron variant (On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection) has shown that unlike adults (वयस्क, युवक), children in general, and little children in particular, do not suffer from severe disease. The ICMR’s fourth seroprevalence (the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens) survey (June-July 2021) soon after the second wave peaked nationally found that 57.2% of children (6-9 years) and 61.6% of children (10-17 years) were infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus; seroprevalence among adults was 66.7%. Since vaccination (treatment with a vaccine to protect against a particular disease; immunization) of adolescents (teenager, youngster, young person) began only in early January 2022, the antibodies detected in children in mid-2021 were only from infection by the virus. The extremely infectious Omicron variant would have infected an even larger percentage of children. Yet, the number of severe cases and deaths in children 5-11 years has been very low. True, with schools reopening, children could be at greater risk of contracting (अनुबंध, विकसित होना, पकड़ना) infection. But with natural infection found to offer protection across age groups, India could have waited for validation (मान्यता, अनुमोदन) of the available evidence on the vaccines for children.

Unlike in January 2021 when approving vaccines for adults as soon as possible was the highest priority, and hence the EUA based on fewer cases and short follow-ups (result, effect, conclusion, development, end product) was seen as a necessity (essential requirement, prerequisite, indispensable item, need), the situation is not the same now, especially in the case of children as young as five. Hence, the regulator’s urgency to greenlight (authorize, permit, approve, assent to, give consent to) vaccines for children under the EUA route is highly questionable. Clinical trial data of Corbevax for children 5-12 years were posted as a preprint (a full draft of a research paper that is shared publicly before it has been peer reviewed/has been sent to press for publication), which is yet to be peer-reviewed, on the day approval was granted; trial data of Covaxin for children 2-18 years were posted as a preprint in December 2021. The Health Ministry had already set a precedent (model, exemplar, example, pattern; previous example/instance, prior instance) last month by clearing (authorize, permit, allow, accept, endorse, sanction, give approval to, give consent to) Corbevax for children 12-14 years without first seeking (ask for, request, appeal for, apply for; try to obtain, aim, attempt) the approval of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), which clears vaccines for the national immunisation programme. With NTAGI clearly against approving vaccines for children, there is every likelihood (probability, chance, prospect, possibility, likeliness feasibility) of the expert body being ignored again. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s message on April 27, a day after the EUA, that every eligible child should be vaccinated at the earliest might prompt the Health Ministry to sidestep (avoid, dodge, elude, circumvent, bypass, escape) the NTAGI once more, thus departing (deviate, diverge, digress, differ, vary, turn aside) even more from evidence-based (relating to a conscientious (thorough &careful), problem-solving approach to clinical practice that incorporates the best evidence from well-designed studies, patient values and preferences, and a clinician’s expertise in making decisions about a patient’s care) policy making.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Important Word List With Meaning

1.in haste (phrase)

Hindi Meaning - जल्दबाज़ी में, शीघ्रता से
English Meaning - with alacrity, with urgency, in a rush, in a hurry; quickly, rapidly, speedily.

2.vaccinate (verb)

Hindi Meaning - टीकाकरण, प्रशासित करना
English Meaning - inoculate, administer, introduce (with a vaccine to provide immunity against a disease).

3.Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) (noun)

Hindi Meaning - आपातकालीन उपयोग प्राधिकरण
English Meaning - a mechanism to facilitate the availability and use of medical countermeasures, including vaccines, during public health emergencies, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic.

4.vaccine (noun)

Hindi Meaning - टीका
English Meaning - a biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.

5.instance (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उदाहरण, अवसर, घटना
English Meaning - occasion, occurrence, case.

6.efficacy (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रभाव, चिकित्सा में, हस्तक्षेप की क्षमता
English Meaning - In medicine, the ability of an intervention (for example, a drug or surgery) to produce the desired beneficial effect; effectiveness, efficiency, power.

7.trial (noun)

Hindi Meaning - परीक्षण, अध्ययन, प्रयोग
English Meaning - test, pilot study, experiment (phase 1, 2,3, and or human/clinical trial).

8.desperate (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - बेकरार, तत्काल, दबाव
English Meaning - urgent, pressing, compelling; last-ditch, last-resort, last-minute, final.

9.measure (noun)

Hindi Meaning - उपाय, क्रिया, कदम
English Meaning - action, step, procedure.

10.deadly (adjective)

Hindi Meaning - घातक, जीवन के लिए खतरा
English Meaning - fatal, lethal, life-threatening.

11.variant (noun)

Hindi Meaning - प्रकार
English Meaning - different or form or version or mutant of something (virus).

12.adult (noun)

Hindi Meaning - वयस्क, युवक
English Meaning - grown person, grown-up person, mature person.

13.antibody (noun)

Hindi Meaning - रोग-प्रतिकारक
English Meaning - it is also called ‘immunoglobulin’; a protective protein produced mainly by plasma (blood) cells in the immune system in response to the presence of antigens (disease causing organisms (bacteria & viruses) and other harmful/toxic foreign substances like insect venom).

14.contract (verb)

Hindi Meaning - अनुबंध, विकसित होना, पकड़ना
English Meaning - develop, catch, become infected with, fall ill with, be taken ill with (a disease).

15.validation (noun)

Hindi Meaning - मान्यता, अनुमोदन
English Meaning - approval, endorsement, acceptance, ratification.

16.Corbevax (noun)

English Meaning - a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Indian biopharmacutical firm Biological E. Biological E’s anti-coronavirus shot, Corbevax, is a RBD protein sub-unit vaccine and is currently undergoing phase 2/3 clinical trials on adults.

17.Covaxin (noun)

English Meaning - India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate (COVAXIN) developed by a Hyderabad-based company (Bharat Biotech) in collaboration with the ICMR (The Indian Council of Medical Research).

18.drug (noun)

English Meaning - medicine, medication.

19.regulator (noun)

English Meaning - an association that supervises a particular business activity.

20.phase-3 trial (noun)

English Meaning - In phase 3 trial, the vaccine is given to thousands of people to confirm its safety - including rare side effects- and effectiveness. These trials involve a control group which is given a placebo.

21.phase 2 trial (noun)

English Meaning - In phase 2 trial, the vaccine is given to hundreds of people so scientists can learn more about its safety and correct dosage.

22.human trial/clinical trial (noun)

English Meaning - a type of research that studies new tests and treatments and evaluates their effects on human health outcomes.

23.condone (verb)

English Meaning - approve, sanction, justify, vindicate, endorse.

24.fig leaf (noun)

English Meaning - (figuratively) something that is used to hide an embarrassing situation or problem; disguise, camouflage, cover-up, shield, facade, veneer.

25.green light/green lighting (noun)

English Meaning - authorization, permission, approval, assent, consent.

26.delta variant/B.1.617.2 (noun)

English Meaning - Formally known as AY.2 or B.1.617.2, it’s a variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, is renamed as the ‘Delta variant’ by the World Health Organization (WHO) and this variant is reclassified as Variant of Concern (VOC). The B.1.617.1 strain has been reclassified to a Variant of Interest (VOI) and labelled variant “Kappa”.

27.Omicron variant (noun)

English Meaning - On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the (new coronavirus) variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). The first known confirmed Omicron infection was from a specimen collected on November 9. In recent weeks, infections in South Africa have increased steeply, coinciding with the detection.

28.Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) (noun)

English Meaning - the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest medical research bodies in the world. As early as in 1911, the Government of India set up the Indian Research Fund Association (IRFA) with the specific objective of sponsoring and coordinating medical research in the country. It was redesignated in 1949 as the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The ICMR is funded by the Government of India through the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

29.seroprevalence (noun)

English Meaning - the number of persons in a population who test positive for a specific disease based on serology (blood serum) specimens.

30.novel coronavirus (nCoV) (SARS-CoV-2) (noun)

English Meaning - a new strain (type/variety) coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans. (Courtesy: WHO)

31.vaccination (noun)

English Meaning - treatment with a vaccine to protect against a particular disease; immunization.

32.adolescent (noun)

English Meaning - teenager, youngster, young person.

33.follow-up (noun)

English Meaning - result, effect, conclusion, development, end product.

34.necessity (noun)

English Meaning - essential requirement, prerequisite, indispensable item, need.

35.green light (verb)

English Meaning - authorize, permit, approve, assent to, give consent to.

36.preprint (noun)

English Meaning - a full draft of a research paper that is shared publicly before it has been peer reviewed/has been sent to press for publication.

37.peer reviewed (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a process by which something research or publication is evaluated by a group of experts in the appropriate field.

38.precedent (noun)

English Meaning - model, exemplar, example, pattern; previous example/instance, prior instance.

39.seek (verb)

English Meaning - ask for, request, appeal for, apply for; try to obtain, aim, attempt.

40.National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) (noun)

English Meaning - The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) was established by an order of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) in 2001. As India’s apex advisory body on immunization, the NTAGI provides guidance and advice to the MoHFW on provision of vaccination and immunization services for the effective control of vaccine preventable diseases in the country. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in India (NTAGI) fulfils a need for informing decision-making concerning the introduction of new vaccines and strengthening the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

41.clear (verb)

English Meaning - authorize, permit, allow, accept, endorse, sanction, give approval to, give consent to.

42.immunisation (noun)

English Meaning - the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine. Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to protect the person against subsequent infection or disease.

43.likelihood (noun)

English Meaning - probability, chance, prospect, possibility, likeliness feasibility.

44.prompt (verb)

English Meaning - give rise to, bring about, cause, produce, result in, lead to.

45.sidestep (verb)

English Meaning - avoid, dodge, elude, circumvent, bypass, escape.

46.depart (verb)

English Meaning - deviate, diverge, digress, differ, vary, turn aside.

47.evidence-based (adjective)

English Meaning - relating to a conscientious (thorough &careful), problem-solving approach to clinical practice that incorporates the best evidence from well-designed studies, patient values and preferences, and a clinician’s expertise in making decisions about a patient’s care.

48.policymaking (noun)

English Meaning - the process of formulating policies, particularly in politics.