India starts vaccinating 15-18 year olds
Vaccination opens for teens in the 15 to 18 age group from today amid a surge of Covid cases in multiple cities. Over 8 lakh teens have registered in the government’s CoWin portal and all will get a dose of Covaxin.
It is, however, to be noted that only Bharat Biotech’s indigenously-made shot ‘Covaxin’ will be used for vaccinating this age bracket. According to a note sent by the Union health ministry to all states and Union territories, additional doses of Covaxin will be sent to the states for administering the vaccine to this population category.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya advised states and UT’s to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queues and different vaccination teams for the 15-18 year age group to avoid a mix-up.
Special protocols have been prepared for the vaccination centers set up in schools. Every school will have to appoint a nodal in-charge. School ID cards will also be valid for vaccination ID proof.
On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccination for the 15-18-year age group will begin from January 3.
According to an official release by the Union health ministry, those people with the birth year of 2007 or before will be eligible for vaccination under the category of 15 to 18 year-olds.