Vaccine drive day 1: Over 40 lakh children in 15-18 yrs age group receive first dose of Covid vaccine

The Lakshadweep administration on Monday launched the COVID-19 vaccination programme for the adolescents aged between 15 to 18 years in the islands, officials said. Administrator Praful Patel launched the campaign in the presence of senior officials of the Union Territory administration at Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Kavaratti. The Administrator distributed vaccination certificates for those students who got inoculated, an official release said here. Vaccination for the age group of 15 to 18 years has been started in all the 10 inhabited islands with effect from Monday, it said.
The administration said Lakshadweep ranks top among the UTs and states of the country with regard to COVID-19 vaccination for other categories such as healthcare workers, frontline workers and the age group 18 years and above.

Over 20,900 children of Delhi in the age of 15 to 18 years received Covid vaccine doses on the first day of the inoculation drive of this group of beneficiaries. In the northeast district, the highest 3,687 children were vaccinated. In the Central district, the least 739 children received the vaccine shots till 6 pm.

As many as 2,667 beneficiaries in the age group of 15 to 18 years in the Southwest district received the shots, 2,268 in the east district and 2,034 in New Delhi.

In west Delhi 1,956 children were vaccinated, 1,806 in south Delhi, 1,705 in South East Delhi, 1,394 in north district, 1,210 in northwest Delhi and 1,532 in Shahdara.

A total of 90,531 doses of Covaxin have been administered across the State in the age group of 15-18 years today

Till 7.30pm, 4,03,928 children of age group 15 to 18 were vaccinated  in Karnataka

Assam: With 978 COVID-19 Vaccination Centres (CVCs) active today, 72,954 children between the age group of 15-17 years have received the first jab of Covaxin across the state as of 6:00 pm, reads an official release.

20,998 children (15-17 age group) administered COVID19 vaccine till 6pm in Delhi today: Delhi government

Students who got vaccinated on Monday as part of the drive to inoculate those in the 15-18 age group against COVID-19 were excited with the experience and said everyone should get the jab.

"It was an experience, it being the first day (of the drive). It was a good experience. Everyone should get vaccinated," one student told reporters at a vaccination centre.

Another student said she was scared initially, but after receiving the jab there was no problem and the little pain she felt was akin to the vaccine received at 15 years of age. Similar views were expressed by various other children who had come for the vaccin

A total of 37,84,212 children (approx 37.84 lakh) in 15-17 age group were vaccinated till 7pm in the country on the first day of Covid-19 vaccination for children, as per CoWIN portal.

Around 10 lakh children got vaccinated on the first day of inoculation drive for those falling in the age group of 15-18 years. No incident of adverse events were reported following immunization has been reported in Madhya Pradesh, said Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang.

Over 39.88 lakh youngsters had registered on CoWIN portal till Monday afternoon after the process began on Saturday for this category. An estimated 7.4 crore children are there in the age group of 15-18 in the country.

3,80,133 children have been vaccinated with the first doe till 5.30 pm in the state, the Karnataka government informed. Inoculation drive for children flagged off across the country on Monday. At present, only Covaxin is being administered to children in the age group of 15-18 years.

In Chattisgarh, a senior government official said that 16,39,811 children in the 15-18 age group are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination, for which 2,452 centres have been set up in colleges, schools and hospitals across the state.

Sharing experience while taking a jab, a 17-year-old Diksha Patel from Raipur in Chhattisgarh required some counseling from her kin as well as the support of two of her friends to overcome hesitancy and get herself vaccinated against COVID-19.

Patel, a Class XI student of JR Dani Government High School where the drive was underway, said she was hesitant because of "side effects" she had seen in some of her kin after they got inoculated last year.

"On Sunday, our class teacher posted a message on our Whatsapp group about coming to school and getting vaccinated. I was worried as many of my family members fell ill after taking the vaccine during the second wave in April and May last year," she told PTI.

Over 12.3 lakh children have been administered COVID-19 vaccine doses across states/UTs till 3 pm on the first day of the inoculation drive of those in the age-group of 15 to 18 years on Monday.

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited a Covid vaccination site for children at RML hospital here Monday and interacted with some of the beneficiaries.

Over 39.88 lakh beneficiaries, aged 15 to 18 years, have registered on CoWIN portal till Monday afternoon and over 12.3 lakh children have received COVID-19 vaccine doses so far across the country, according to the portal data at 3 pm.

The process to vaccinate children commenced in the country amid scare of the Omicron variant.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot launched the vaccination drive for children in the age group of 15-18 years at Rajkiya Adarsh Balika Uchch Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Jaipur on Monday.

Vaccination drive for children aged 15 and above is underway across Kerala, State Health Minister Veena George informed on Monday.

"The vaccination will take place between 9 am and 5 pm. To start with, it would be Covaxin and till January 10, except on Wednesday, the facility would be provided at special centres besides the state-run hospitals," George said.

According to estimates, there are around 1.5 million children in the age group 15 to 18 in the state and arrangements for their vaccination are in place at 551 centres.

"Vaccination drive for around 2.5 lakh children of Pune in the age group of 15 to 18 years have begun today at 40 vaccination centres. We will try to vaccinate all these children as soon as possible," said Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol at Dalvi Hospital.

In Delhi, where daily cases have registered a record surge in the last few days, vaccination centres at Fortis hospital, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, and other facilities began administering the jabs to younger population, officials said.

Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches vaccination program for children between 15 to 18 years of age. "All our effort is to ensure that schools & markets remain open & state economy keeps running, while COVID19 is defeated. For that, we have to vaccinate," he said.

Covid-19 vaccination for children in the age group of 15-18 years begins in Jammu at a private school.

Puducherry CM N Rangasamy launches COVID vaccination for children aged 15-18 from Thillaiyadi Valliammai Government High School in Kataragama.

Vaccination program for children between 15-18 years of age inaugurated in Bihar from Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science, Patna. Genome sequencing started in the state from today. We'll have a meeting tomorrow to decide necessary actions to prevent COVID surge, said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Vaccination begins for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years at Govt Model Senior Secondary School, Manimajra. "All arrangements are in place and dose supplies are adequate," says Sonia, a vaccinator.

Vaccination begins for children aged 15-18 years at Chetla Girls High School, Kolkata. "We keep sensitizing the students. So, children are confident about taking the vaccine so that they can start school soon. Vaccination target for today is 107," says a school teacher.

States/UTs were further advised to ensure the orientation of vaccinators and vaccination team members for vaccination of 15-18 years age-group. The identification of dedicated session sites for vaccination of 15-18 years age-group should be done. States were exhorted to undertake proper planning in advance for the distribution of Covaxin to identified session sites.

According to the instructions, two separate vaccination teams at the same CVC (one for 15-18 age groups and the other for all adults) should be set up to avoid confusion in the administration of the right vaccines. States should ensure that all beneficiaries wait for half an hour when they will be monitored for the adverse event following immunization (AEFI) and will be eligible for the second dose only after 28 days.