10 lakh teenagers eligible in Delhi, over 3 lakh in Lucknow for COVID-19 vaccination from Jan 3

In Delhi, at least lakh teenagers are eligible for COVID vaccination while Lucknow has over 3 lakh kids.

New Delhi: Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of COVID vaccination roll out for kids as well as ‘precaution doses’ for the frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities amid the rising Omicron threat, the government has initiated the process and finalized targets for the given age groups.

As far as the 15-18 age group is concerned, the vaccination will begin on January 3, 2021. The kids will only be administered Covaxin, which is given in the gap of 28 days.

Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, where assembly elections are also due next year, the health department has set a target of vaccinating about 3.2 lakh children in the 15-18 age group, reported TOI.

“In the initial stage, inoculations will be done on select centres. The names of the centres will be made available in the Cowin app. The teenagers will be jabbed with Covaxin. They can get the vaccine after booking a slot online. A quota will also be fixed for walk-in inoculations. Other modalities will be worked out in the next two days,” TOI quoted Dr MK Singh, district immunisation officer as saying.

Delhi, on the other hand, has to vaccinate at least 10 lakh teenage beneficiaries.

“For those born in 2007 or before, the vaccination will start from January 3 and the estimated number of beneficiaries is around 10 lakh. After registration on the Cowin portal, school identity cards can be used for vaccination, in addition to other existing government-issued IDs,” TOI quoted a Delhi government official as saying.

About the process, children aged between 15 and 18 years would be able to register on the Cowin portal from January 1. The beneficiaries will also have to present a consent note from the parents.