COVID-19: Belgium vaccinates children at Antwerp zoo to put them at ease for first jab

The city of Antwerp in Belgium has adopted a unique way to vaccinate children as the COVID cases all over the world are increasing owing to the Omicron variant. As per the reports of AP News, Antwerp zoo is being used to vaccinate children with their first COVID-19 jab. The decision comes as Belgian authorities to avoid children from being frightened by the sight of needles as the country's vaccination campaign expands to cover children as young as five.

As children need more patience in the process of vaccination, safari tents depicting images of zoo animals were set up near the zoo's entrance. Kids were handed light pointers to search out the animals they liked in the images while getting their shot to keep them occupied within the tent. Any discomfort was immediately forgotten when the children and their parents were allowed to stroll around the zoo's conservatory.

125,000 cases per day expected by mid-January

The country's Head of Viral Diseases Steven Van Gucht suggests that the fifth wave of COVID-19 has begun in Belgium, with up to 125,000 cases per day expected by mid-January, according to CNN. He stated that he believes the fifth wave has begun and if they look at the infection numbers, they can see that the weekly average number of infections has jumped by 82% in a week. He also said that they were averaging 6,500 infections a day a week ago, and now they are up to nearly 12,000.

Van Gucht also said that two phenomena are at play in the rising cases, first is the effect of holiday parties and gatherings, and the other is the Omicron variant that can spread extremely quickly and infect those who already have immunity or partial immunity, according to CNN. He went on to suggest that Omicron was responsible for 80% to 90% of the current COVID-19 infections in Belgium.

Two hippopotamuses tested positive for COVID-19

Humans are not the only ones to contract COVID-19 since the global pandemic began nearly two years ago. Veterinarians at the Antwerp Zoo conducted testing on two hippopotamuses with runny noses, which tested positive for coronavirus, according to Medical Xpress. So far Belgium has given around 22 million vaccines.

(Inputs from AP News)

(Image: AP)