Children can register for Covid vaccines from January 1: Centre

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• Dec 27, 2021 | Deleted

Digital Desk: India has taken one step further in the fight against Coronavirus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that the vaccination drive for children aged between 15 and 18 is to start from January 3rd. 

The registration for the same will begin from January 1st 2022. In addition, the central government stated that children could register for the vaccines in the CoWin app using their students' ID cards. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced "precaution" or booster shots for the frontline and healthcare workers and senior citizens. In addition, he stated that vaccinating children would help schools and children return to normal. 

Children in India will be vaccinated with one of two shots of either Bharat Biotech's double-dose Covaxin or Zydus Cadila's three-dose ZyCoV-D, both of which have been cleared for kids over 12.

The drug controller has cleared Serum Institute's Novavax for kids between seven and 11 years of age, and Biological E's Corbevax has been cleared for children over five.

Dr NK Arora, chief of India's immunization task force, told ANI yesterday that Covaxin showed a very good immune response in tests on the 15-18 age group.

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India is trailing several other countries - including many in Europe, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and New Zealand - in offering Covid vaccines for kids.

The decision to vaccinate school children came amid an alarming increase in covid 19 cases among school-going children. 

Fifty-two kids from a school in Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, tested positive earlier this week.

On Saturday, at least 17 girls from a school in Chhattisgarh's Raigarh district tested positive. Earlier this month, 18 students tested positive at a Mumbai school also.

However, the decision to vaccinate children has met mixed responses from some guardians, who are reluctant to vaccinate their child, expressing concern over related side effects of the vaccine dose. 

As per reports, India has administered 141.7 crore vaccine doses, but only 58.1 crores have availed the second dose.