COVID-19 vaccination drive for beneficiaries in the age bracket of 15-18 years is scheduled to begin from Monday across the country.
As announced by PM 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.
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.
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 immunization (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.
(With ANI inputs)