Jabs for kids aged 12-15 years from today
NEW DELHI: India will start administering children in the age group of 12-14 years with the Covid-19 vaccine from March 16, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said in a letter to the chief secretaries of all states.
According to guidelines released by the Centre on Tuesday, only the Corbevax vaccine would be used for the beneficiaries of this age group. Two doses of Biological E’s intramuscular vaccine Corbevax would be administered to the beneficiaries in the 12-14 years age group at an interval of 28 days, the guidelines said.
As per government guidelines, Covid-19 vaccination is open for all children born on or before March 15, 2010 — those who have already attained the age of 12 years — and they will be able to register on
CoWIN.
“The vaccination slots will be booked for 12-14 years age group for ‘CorBEvax’ only through Co-WIN. Vaccinator has to ensure that the vaccine is administered to only those children who have completed the age of 12 years on the date of vaccination and if a child is registered but has not attained the age of 12 years, the vaccination is not to be given,” the guidelines said.
Earlier, children born on or before 2007 were allowed to take the shot under the programme.
According to the guidelines, as of March 1, 2021 there are as many as 4.7 crore children aged 12 and 13 years in the country.
Also, precaution dose can now be provided to all persons aged 60 years and above and the prioritisation and sequencing of this dose would be based on completion of nine months — 39 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose. The guidelines said the vaccination of precaution dose should be with the same vaccine with which primary vaccination was done.
Vaccination for the 12-14 years age group would be conducted through dedicated inoculation sessions — that is earmarked Covid-19 vaccination centres for this age-group — to avoid their unintended vaccination with any other Covid-19 vaccines.
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Tuesday released guidelines for Covid-19 vaccination of children between 12-14 years that will begin from March 16 and said only Corbevax vaccine would be used for the beneficiaries of this age group.
Two doses of Biological E’s intramuscular vaccine Corbevax would be administered to the beneficiaries in the 12-14 years age group at an interval of 28 days, the guidelines said. The Centre shared also these guidelines with states in a letter issued on Monday. Covid-19 vaccination of children between 12-14 years will begin from March 16 and only Corbevax vaccine would be used for the beneficiaries of age group 12-13 and 13-14 years, it said. Beneficiaries between 14-15 years have already been covered during the vaccination for 15-18 years’ age group.
According to the guidelines, as of March 1, 2021 there are as many as 4.7 crore children aged 12 and 13 years in the country.
Also, precaution dose can now be provided to all persons aged 60 years and above and the prioritization and sequencing of this dose would be based on completion of nine months -- 39 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose. The guidelines said the vaccination of precaution dose should be with same vaccine with which primary vaccination was done.
According to the guidelines, all beneficiaries born in 2010 or earlier -- those who have already attained the age of 12 years -- will be able to register on CoWIN.
“The vaccination slots will be booked for 12-14 years age group for “CorBEvax” only through Co-WIN. Vaccinator has to ensure that the vaccine is administered to only those children who have completed the age of 12 years on the date of vaccination and if a child is registered but has not attained the age of 12 years, the vaccination is not to be given,” the guidelines said.
The registration can be done through the following modes -self-registration through an existing account on Co-WIN of a family member or by creating a new account through a unique mobile number (this facility is available for all eligible citizens presently), it said.
It can also be done through onsite registration by the vaccinator in facilitated registration mode and appointments can be booked online or onsite (walk-in) for 12-14 years.
Vaccination of 12-14 years would be conducted through dedicated inoculation sessions -that is earmarked Covid-19 vaccination centres for 12-14 years’ age-group -- to avoid their unintended vaccination with any other Covid-19 vaccines.