The Jharkhand government on Thursday inducted pneumococcal conjugatevaccine(PCV) regimen in its ongoing routine immunization programs for infants aged below five years, making it the sixth state in the country to do so.
Launching the immunization programme,Health minister Banna Guptasaid, “Scientists and experts have predicted a third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic nationwide.
The PCV vaccination programme will be effective in preventing pneumonia-like complications among our children, should a third wave come.”
The PCV prevents pneumococcus, a disease caused by a bacteria named Streptococcus pneumoniae. The disease kills over 1.2 lakh infants in the country every year, according to the Union health ministry. The bacteria spread through the air and causes breathing ailments, fever, and cough among infants.