NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday asked states to accelerate second dose coverage for Covid vaccine among adolescents of 15-17 years.
The government also plans to soon start giving ZyCoV-D in seven states under the immunisation programme. The states include Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, UP and West Bengal.
In a letter to the states and UTs, health secretary Rajesh Bhushan directed states to formulate a specific communication strategy, focused on adolescent population and their caregivers. He also asked states to review the progress in coverage on a daily basis. "A tailored communication strategy focused at adolescents population and their caregivers should also be rolled out to make them aware about the timely completion of vaccination schedule and sustain their vaccine confidence," he stated.
Around 4.9 crore or 67% of total 7.4 crore adolescents of 15-17 years age have received at least first dose of Covid vaccines till Wednesday. Around 21 lakh youngsters are fully vaccinated with two doses of Covaxin. As per Bhushan's letter, 42 lakh adolescents who received the first dose of Covaxin on January 3 became eligible for second dose on January 31.
Bhushan further stated, "It is important that the coverage of second dose amongst adolescents is reviewed daily at your level at state/UT and similar review is undertaken at district level too".
