Before the launch of the Covid-19 vaccine for teenagers on January 10, the Joint Ministry of Health announced that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be the only vaccine suitable for eligible recipients in the 15-18 age group.

The Ministry of Health also announced on Monday that the three priority groups of medical staff, front-line workers and elderly people over 60 years old can receive a third “preventive dose” 39 weeks after receiving the second injection.

“As an adequate preventive measure, for health care workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) who have received two doses of vaccine, another dose of Covid-19 vaccine will be provided from January 10, 2022. Priority and order of this preventive dose It will be based on the completion time of 9 months (i.e. 39 weeks) from the date of the second dose,” the ministry said.

Taking into account the recent surge in global coronavirus infections, the discovery of new Omicron variants of the virus, scientific evidence, global practice, “and” the Ministry said, the Covid-19 Working Group of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI) and NTAGI’s “permanent Technical Science Committee (STSC)”. Children born in 2007 and before should be eligible for the vaccine, the ministry said. “…From January 3, 2022, children in the 15-18 age group will be vaccinated. For these beneficiaries, the only vaccination option is ‘Covaxin’,” the guide said.

The beneficiary can register online through an existing account on Co-WIN, or after creating a new account through a unique mobile phone number. Children can book a place using their parents’ existing Co-WIN account. Dr. RS Sharma, CEO of the National Health Agency (NHA), which designed the Co-WIN infrastructure, told the Indian Express that the reservation of children’s locations will start on January 1. Students can use the nine documents already listed (for adults). Vaccination). In addition, they can also use student ID cards,” Sharma said.

The Ministry of Health guidelines state that children can be registered on-site by validators/vaccinators in a convenient registration mode; appointments can also be booked online or on-site (walk-in).

For preventive doses, the Co-WIN system will send an SMS to the beneficiary when the dose expires.

The guidelines point out that the preventive dose will be administered according to the doctor’s recommendations based on comorbidities. Sharma said that the beneficiary must bring a certificate of comorbidity to the vaccination center.

“The beneficiaries will only be asked if they have comorbidities. They just need to take it to the vaccination center. No need to upload anything before booking a slot on the Co-WIN platform,” he said.

Complete News Source : The IndianEXPRESS