Covid-19 vaccination drive for children aged 12-14 to start from March 16
Children in the age group of 12 to 14 could be inoculated against Covid-19 as early as this week, as the central government is looking to initiate the drive, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Monday. Children in the age group 12-14 will be administered Biological E’s Corbevax vaccine.
Furthermore, the government is likely to remove the co-morbidity clause for administration of precaution Covid-19 vaccine doses to senior citizens, the sources revealed.
Tweeting the announcement in Hindi, the minister said, “if the children are safe then the country is safe! I am happy to inform that the COVID vaccination of children in the age group of 12 to 13 and 13 to 14 is starting from March 16. Also, everyone aged 60+ will now be able to get precaution doses.”
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) is learnt to have given its recommendation to begin vaccination of children in the 12-15 years age group.
“The vaccination of children in the age group of 12 -14 years is most likely to begin from Tuesday. Also, the co-morbidity clause for administering precaution doses to those aged 60 years and above would be removed,” an official source had earlier said.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2 last year.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1 last year.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
India began administering precaution dosez of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with co-morbidities, from January 10 this year amid a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by Omicron variant of the virus in the country.