Chennai: Starting today, India will provide Covid-19 vaccines to children in the 15-18 age group, as per an announcement made in this regard by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tamilnadu government has identified over 33 lakh children aged between 15 and 18 to administer the vaccine against Covid-19 from today. It has been decided to achieve the target in one month and jabs will be provided at schools and other places.
Director of Public Health T S Selvavinayagam, in a video message, said, ‘Eighty per cent of those in the age group are studying in government-run schools and in private institutions in Class 10, Plus-1 and Plus-2.’
Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that 26 lakh children in Tamilnadu schools and four lakh engineering students have been identified for the vaccination drive.
The Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has issued guidelines for vaccination of the 15 to 18 years age group. All those who are aged 15 years or more will be able to register on the Co-WIN 2.0 portal. Those born in 2007 or before are eligible for the vaccination.
According to the Directorate, the vaccine of choice, however, will be only Covaxin as this is the only vaccine with Emergency Use Listing for the age group 15 to 18 years and which has the necessary recommendation of the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.