COVID-19 vaccination drive for 0.83 million children in J&K begins

Jammu and Kashmir government has started the vaccination drive for the children in the age group of 15 to 18 years. The government plans to inoculate all the 0.83 million children in the age group within the next 10 days.   

Lt Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha inaugurated the vaccination drive from Jammu while the additional chief secretary of health & medical education department Vivek Bhardwaj kick-started it at Srinagar.   

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''There are around 0.83 million children in this age bracket across the union territory. There will be around 1,645 vaccination centres across Jammu and Kashmir. Our aim remains to vaccinate one lakh children on a daily basis,'' said Vivek Bhardwaj, additional chief secretary, health and medical education department.  

The government also said that they have received 0.28 million fresh stock of vaccines. The vaccination drive would be fast-tracked as the vaccines are available in good numbers. The government also plans to airlift these vaccines to far flung areas, which generally get cut off due to snowfall.   

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''COVID-19 vaccination starts for children aged 15-18 years in J&K. My humble request to the young friends is to get vaccinated. Vaccination is a critical tool to help stop the pandemic,'' said LG of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha.  

The government has also organised supplementary exams for the students, who missed the main exams, due to being Covid positive.