The government is likely to begin vaccination of children in the 12-14 age group, against COVID-19 soon after the 15-18 population gets fully vaccinated, said Dr N K Arora, chairman of the COVID-19 working group of NTAGI, here on Monday.
Of the estimated 7.4 crore children in the 15-18 age bracket, over 3.45 crore have received their first dose of Covaxin so far and their second dose is due in 28 days, he said.
“Adolescents in this age group have been actively participating in the inoculation process, and going by this pace of vaccination, the rest of the beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group are likely to be covered with the first dose by January-end and subsequently their second dose is expected to be done by February-end,” said the Chairman of the Covid working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
Once the 15-18 age group is covered, the government is likely to take a policy decision for initiating the vaccination drive for the 12-14 age group in March, he said.
There is an estimated 7.5 crore “eligible” population in the 12-14 age group, he said.