Picture : Twitter / ANI
The COVID-19 vaccination drive for beneficiaries in the age bracket of 15-18 years began across the country on the date announced January 3,2022 .
As announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2021, the vaccination for the age-group 15-18 years is scheduled to begin from January 3, 2022, while administration of precautionary third dose for the vulnerable categories is to commence from January 10, 2022.
In the context of the vaccination of the age group 15-18 years, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had informed the States, Union Territories that only ‘Covaxin’ is to be administered in this population category and additional doses of ‘Covaxin’ will be sent to all states and UTs.
Chandigarh | Vaccination begins for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years at Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Manimajra
“All arrangements are in place and dose supplies are adequate,” says Sonia, a vaccinator pic.twitter.com/Fv8B7Jy62P
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2022
Potential beneficiaries began registering themselves on the Co-WIN portal from January 1, 2022, or they can also avail of a walk-in registration when vaccination commences from today.
Those with the birth year of 2007 or before will be eligible for vaccination under this category, the official release by the health ministry said.
Delhi | Vaccination starts for children in the age group of 15-18 years in Rajkiya Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya, Laxmi Nagar
“Children are excited to take the vaccine. All the children are being kept in the observation room for 30 minutes,” says vaccinator Jyoti Grewal pic.twitter.com/Irv8Lt7yB0
— ANI (@ANI) January 3, 2022
All established protocols regarding vaccination are to be followed for the 15-18 years age group; beneficiaries are to wait for half-an-hour when they will be monitored for the adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) and will be eligible for the second dose only after 28 days.
States were informed that they have the option to designate some COVID Vaccination Centres (CVCs) as dedicated CVC for the 15-18 age group exclusively which can also be reflected on Co-WIN.
Dedicated CVCs would ensure that there is no confusion in administering the vaccines.
The states were requested to ensure separate queues for the 15-18 age group and separate vaccination teams.
COVID vaccination for children aged 15-18 starts in Uttar Pradesh; visuals from Civil Hospital in Lucknow
“There are 1.4 crore children in the age group of 15-18 in the state. 2,150 booths have been set up across the state to vaccinate the children,” CM Yogi Adityanath says pic.twitter.com/uwGQNecvep
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 3, 2022
States were advised to form two separate vaccination teams at the same CVC, one for 15-18 age groups and the other for all adults to avoid confusion in the administration of the right vaccines.
