Vaccination for 15-18 age group in India starts amid COVID-19 surge
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According to the Union Health Ministry, only Covaxin will be given to teenagers, and more doses of the vaccine will be distributed to all states and union territories.
COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 15 to 18 years old began in India on Monday morning.
On Saturday, CoWIN registration for the age group had commenced.
So far, 12,57,603 children aged 15 to 18 have registered to be vaccinated through the CoWIN platform.
The national capital, according to Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain, has the potential to vaccinate 3,00,000 youngsters aged 15 to 18 years per day.
The Delhi government and municipal corporations have established COVID immunisation centres in government hospitals, dispensaries, polyclinics, and schools.
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The clearance from the government came amid a threat of growing cases of Omicron, the highly infectious variant that is sweeping Europe and the US, replacing Delta as the dominant strain.
Only Covaxin is approved for beneficiaries aged less than 18 years. Beneficiaries aged 18 & above are eligible for all vaccines. Validations have been put in place in the Co-WIN system to ensure that vaccination is carried out as per government policy: Union Health Ministry
Since schools and colleges opened earlier this year, a substantial number of children and teens have contracted the virus. Several outbreaks have been reported from residential schools and college hostels.
COVID-19 vaccination starts for children aged 15-18 years in Dr RML Hospital, Delhi
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2022
"I got my vaccination registration done online yesterday. Apart from the vaccination, we need to be extra careful & alert for our own safety," says a teenager pic.twitter.com/kYvlGE5CJ7
The vaccination campaign, which is being carried out in collaboration with schools, is taking place in hospitals and health centres.
Jammu & Kashmir | #COVID19 vaccination for children in the age group of 15-18 years starts in Jammu. Visuals from a private school in the city pic.twitter.com/SZUv20DIQU
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2022
Vaccination centres are also being employed in a huge number of schools and other educational organisations.
Those who were born before 2007 are eligible for the vaccine.
According to the Union Health Ministry, only Covaxin will be given to teenagers, and more doses of the vaccine will be distributed to all states and union territories.
On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccinations for those aged 15 to 18 would begin on January 3.
Beginning January 10, health staff, frontline workers, and vulnerable senior citizens will receive a third dosage of the vaccine.
(With inputs from agencies)