Pretoria - The Department of Health and scientists have urged parents, caregivers, and legal guardians to use the upcoming winter school holidays as an opportunity to get their children vaccinated against Covid-19.
As of last week, the health department noted that there had been a low uptake of vaccines among the youth especially those between the ages of 12 to 34 years.
The department said it was crucial for all young people aged 12 years and older to be encouraged to go to their nearest vaccination site to get vaccinated, as everyone including young people were at risk of severe illness and hospitalisation should they contract the coronavirus.
While the Gauteng provincial government reported it had continued to rollout the school communities vaccination programme targeting teenagers between 12 and 17 years, it said the assistance and providing information to youngsters required all stakeholders to play their role.
It was in the same vein that parents, caregivers, and legal guardians were encouraged to have open discussions with their children about the benefits of the Covid-19 vaccine to help them make informed health choices.
"As change makers, young people must play an active role to stop the spread of Covid-19 by rolling up their sleeves to get the jab."
"Parents are urged to use the upcoming winter school holidays to support and accompany their children to vaccination sites to get the jab. Children, like other age groups, are expected to continue wearing face masks in all indoor school activities."
Professor Veronica Ueckermann, the University of Pretoria’s Acting Head of Infectious Diseases said what they found of late was that many older persons were getting infected by young people who had been infected by the disease.
Ueckermann said while the youth were not as adversely affected by the initial disease, older persons were not so fortunate and still more vulnerable than ever.
She said another aspect to worry about was the possibility of the youth developing long Covid or post Covid conditions wherein patients were left with complications for weeks or months after being infected with the virus.
According to the World Health Organization, long Covid or post Covid-19 conditions occurred in individuals with a history of or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection, usually three months from the onset of Covid-19, with symptoms lasting for at least two months and cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis.
Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, and cognitive dysfunction but also other symptoms that generally have an impact on everyday functioning.
"At this point in time I think a lot of people are experiencing Covid-19 fatigue or think that this is over, but we need to remember that two or three deaths as recorded daily by our statistics are still too many. The only way we can move past this and get things going again is if we reach reasonable levels of herd immunity and the youth can help us achieve that."
Pretoria News