5 crore teens given at least 1 dose of Covid vaccine

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NEW DELHI: The coverage of the first dose of Covid vaccination among youngsters crossed five crore in around five weeks from its commencement on January 3, indicating that over 67.5% adolescents of 15-17 years have been partially immunised.
The feat assumes significance as most states are resuming offline classes in schools and other educational institutions, while adolescents of 15-17 years age are most vulnerable to risk of severe disease and death due to the infection in the absence of vaccination.
Assessment of data from the last two years shows 75% of deaths in all children due to Covid-19 are among 15-18 years. Besides, 10-15% of children between 15 and 18 years have co-morbidities, which also puts them at greater risk, experts say.

“Young India is fighting the pandemic with full vigour. Great going, my young friends!” health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.
However, the coverage of the second dose among youngsters of 15-17 years continues to be slow with only around 91 lakh fully vaccinated till Tuesday 7pm. The Centre has asked states to speed up coverage of second dose among those eligible for the same.
Since two doses of Covaxin are given in an interval of 28 days, over two crore youngsters who received the first dose of the vaccine during first week of the programme are now due for their second dose.
The health ministry has projected around 7.4 crore adolescents in the 15-17 age group across the country.

The increasing coverage among 15-17 years is also likely to help the government lower the eligible age for vaccination and move on to the next priority group among children. Since Covaxin is the only vaccine which is currently being administered to youngsters below 18 years under the vaccination programme, limited production of the jab has been a constraint for the government to expand the coverage. However, the government maintains that the programme will be extended to those below 15 years based on the expert committee’s recommendation.
Overall, more than 170.71 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered across the country. This includes the coverage of nearly 96% adults with at least one dose of the jabs and over 76% adults vaccinated with two doses. Besides, this also includes 1.56 crore “precaution” or third doses given to health and frontline workers and people above 60 with co-morbidities.

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