Vaccination drive for children aged 15-18 years begins today

Vaccination drive for children between the age group of 15 to 18 years begins today across the country.

The CoWIN platform had till Sunday evening recorded over 6.35 lakh registrations for the same.

The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on December 27.

The Drugs Controller General of India granted emergency use authorisation to indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years with certain conditions on December 24.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya advised states and Union Territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queue and different vaccination teams for the 15-18 year age group to avoid the mixing-up of vaccines.

Also watch: Quixplained: how children between 15-18 years can register for Covid-19 vaccination

Mansukh Mandaviya, who interacted with health ministers and principal secretaries and additional chief secretaries of states and Union Territories on Sunday through a video link, stressed the need to ensure smooth implementation of new vaccination guidelines.

He advised them to ensure the orientation of vaccinators and vaccination team members and the identification of dedicated session sites for this category of beneficiaries.

Quixplained: all you need to know about India’s vaccination program for children