PM Modi announces COVID vaccination for children aged 15-18 years from Jan 3, precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers ,citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities from Jan.10

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that the COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 15-18 years will start from January 3, an ANI report said.

According to the report, this comes after Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use for kids aged between 12-18 years, said official sources.

In his address to the nation, PM Modi said, “Vaccination for children aged between 15-18 years will begin from January 3, 2022,” ANI reported.

The precaution dose of vaccine for healthcare and frontline workers and citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will also be started from January 10, Prime Minister said.

Earlier, Bharat Biotech had submitted data from clinical trials in the 2-18 years age group for COVAXIN (BBV152) to Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

The data has been thoroughly reviewed by the CDSCO and Subject Experts Committee (SEC) and has provided their positive recommendations, the vaccine maker had said.

Amid concerns over rising Omicron cases of COVID-19 variant, PM Modi on Saturday said urged people not to panic and be alert.

“In India, many people have been found to be infected with Omicron. I would urge all of you not to panic, be careful and alert. Remember to wash hands and mask,” the Prime Minister said in an address to the nation.

Important Facts From PM’s Speech

– Healthcare and frontline workers have a huge contribution in keeping the country safe in this fight. Therefore, from the point of view of precaution, the government has decided that precaution dose of vaccine will also be started for healthcare and frontline workers. It will be started from January 10.

– Citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will also have the option of precaution dose of the vaccine on the advice of their doctor. This will also be available from January 10.

– PM Modi has announced vaccination for children aged 15-18. Vaccination for children will begin from January 3, 2022.

– The experience of fighting the corona global epidemic so far shows that following all the guidelines at the individual level is a great weapon to combat corona. And the second weapon is vaccination.

– Today, more than 61% of India’s adult population has received both doses of the vaccine. Similarly, about 90% of the adult population has received a single dose of the vaccine.

– India started giving the vaccine to its citizens from January 16 this year. It is the collective effort and collective will of all the citizens of the country that today India has crossed the unprecedented and very difficult target of 141 crore vaccine doses.

As per the Union Health Ministry, India has reported 7,189 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, the nationwide case tally of the Omicron variant of coronavirus has reached 415, the report said.

Amid the Omicron scare and surge in cases in various parts of the country, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that multi-disciplinary Central teams would be deployed in ten identified states.

“A decision has been taken to deploy multi-disciplinary Central teams to 10 identified States some of which are either reporting an increasing number of Omicron and COVID-19 cases or slow vaccination pace,” says Union Health Ministry in an official statement
Multi-disciplinary Central teams are to be deployed in Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Punjab.

These teams will be stationed in the states for three to five days and will work along with the State Health Authorities.

As per the Ministry, these teams will specifically look at areas of contact tracing, including surveillance, containment operations, and COVID-19 testing including sending of adequate samples from clusters to the INSACOG network for genome sequencing.

The teams will also be responsible for the enforcement of COVID Appropriate Behaviors, availability of hospital beds, sufficient logistics including ambulances, ventilators, medical oxygen etc, and COVID-19 vaccination progress in the states.

“The State level central teams will assess the situation, suggest remedial actions and submit a report every evening by 7 PM on the public health activities being undertaken to both the Central and state government,” the statement further read.