Covid vaccination for 12 to 14 age group begins today, precaution dose for all elders

India on Wednesday kickstarted Covid vaccination for children in the age group of 12 to 14 years.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on Monday announced on Twitter that the government was opening up vaccination for 12-14 year old children.

The health minister had also tweeted that the "precaution dose" would be open for all those above 60 years of age. Till now precaution dose was limited to senior citizens suffering from co-morbidities.

Children in the 12 to 14 age group are being administered Biological E's Corbevax. Two doses will be administered at an interval of 28 days. According to news agency PTI, Biological E Ltd has supplied 5 crore doses of Corbevax to the Centre and the vaccine has been distributed to states.

Around 7.11 crore children are expected to be vaccinated in this age group.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2 last year.

The vaccination was opened for above 45 age group from April 1, 2021. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1 last year. The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years. 

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