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Children’s vax program to start with Covaxin on Jan 3

At the beginning, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be administered to children in the 15-18 age group from January 3, the Centre said on Tuesday after Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a meeting with States to decide on the framework of the children vaccination programme and precautionary doses for the healthcare/frontline workers and elderly people.

According to the Ministry, the Centre will supply more Covaxin doses to the States and share a “supply schedule” in the next few days.

No decision on Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D was taken for inoculation of children, which was also approved for the 12-18 age group. “ZyCov-D may be used in a staggered way for the children vaccination going forward. However, nothing has been finalised on its inclusion in the drive,” said a source.

“Children in the 15-18 age group can either opt for vaccination through the CoWIN portal, or can get the vaccine in their schools. Camps are being planned in schools,” a State immunisation officer told BusinessLine.

He added that healthcare workers will be trained before the programme kicks off.

“Some children might have apprehensions and in case a child develops any sort of side effects, a small training will be imparted to handle such issues,” the source added.

It is to be noted that the two doses of Covaxin will be administered in a gap of 28 days in 15-18 years old children. While the CoWIN registration will begin from January 1, the onsite registration will start from January 3.

In addition, States were informed that they have the option to designate some Covid Vaccination Centres (CVC) exclusively for the 15-18 age group which can also be reflected on CoWIN. This would ensure there is no confusion in administering the vaccines, the release stated.

Meanwhile, States were also instructed to form two separate vaccination teams at the same CVC, one for children and the other for adults to avoid confusion in administration of the right vaccines.

Precautionary doses
Meanwhile, the Government clarified there is no need for a doctor certificate or prescription to be presented at the vaccination centre.

However, it is still unclear if or not a different vaccine can be taken as a precautionary dose. The healthcare, frontline workers and the elderly can take precautionary shots from January 10.

Sources said the Centre will engage continuously with the States for another two to three days for effective implementation of the children vaccination programme and precautionary doses. The Hindu BusinessLine

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