Covid Vaccination To Begin For 12-14 Age Group From March 16: Government

New Delhi: The COVID vaccination for children in the age group of 12 -14 years will begin from March 16, while the co-morbidity clause for administering precaution doses to 60+ citizens has been removed, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Monday (March 14).

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The COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to the 12-14 years age group would be Corbevax manufactured by Biological Evans, Hyderabad. Tweeting the announcement in Hindi, the minister said,

If the children are safe then the country is safe! I am happy to inform that the COVID vaccination of children in the age group of 12 to 13 and 13 to 14 is starting from March 16. Also, everyone aged 60+ will now be able to get precaution doses.

He also urged the families of children and people in the age group of 60 and above that they must get vaccinated.

The Union government after due deliberations with scientific bodies has decided to start COVID19 vaccination for 12-13 years and 13-14 years age groups (those born in 2008, 2009 and 2010 which include those who are already above 12 years of age) of the population from March 16, 2022, the health ministry said in a statement.

According to official sources, around 7.11 crore children will be vaccinated under the new age group.

Biological E Ltd has supplied 5 crore doses of Corbevax to the Centre and the vaccine has been distributed to states, sources said.

The announcement comes at a time when schools across the country are opening up given the considerable decline in the COVID cases.

The Government has also decided that the condition of comorbidity for COVID19 precaution dose for population over 60 years of age will be removed forthwith, the ministry said.

Hence, from 16th March 2022 onwards, the entire population above 60 years of age will be eligible for precautionary doses of COVID19 vaccine, the ministry said.

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The population above 14 years of age is already being inoculated under the ongoing COVID vaccination program.

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

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all aged more than 45 years from April 1, 2021.

The Central 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 on January 3 this year for adolescents aged 15-18 years.

India began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with co-morbidities, from January 10 amid a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by the Omicron variant of the virus in the country.

Also Read: Two Years Of COVID-19 As A Global Pandemic, Here’s What Experts Say On Way Forward

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.