Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala will begin the COVID-19 vaccination of children in the 12-14 year age group on a pilot basis from Wednesday through selected vaccination centres. Also, all persons above 60 years who have completed nine months after the second dose can receive the third precaution dose from Wednesday.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting called by Health Minister Veena George here on Tuesday. It should be noted that only children who have completed 12 years in full by the day of vaccination will be administered the vaccine.
Registration can be done on the spot or online on the CoWIN portal as and when it is enabled on the website. The location of vaccination centres for children and the time slots will be informed by the respective district authorities.
The Health department will issue detailed guidelines on children’s vaccination soon and extend the inoculation across the State, an official statement issued by the Health Minister said.
Arrangements will be made for administering the vaccine to all children in consultation with the Education department. Since it is the season of annual exams in schools, the department is planning to make arrangements for the conduct of vaccination after the vacation commences.
The Health department has taken cognisance of the apprehensions of parents regarding the vaccination of children. Hence, vaccination will be taken up widely only after clear planning.
At present, vaccination sites for those above 18 years and children aged 15-17 years in hospitals are distinctly identified through colour-coding, with blue signage assigned for the vaccination of the 18-years-plus group and pink for the 15-17 year group.
While the 18-years-plus group are administered Covishield/Covaxin, the 15-17 year group are being administered Covaxin. Those in the 12-14 years age group will be vaccinated with a new vaccine, Corbevax, and the sites would be assigned a different colour code.
Principal Secretary (Health) Rajan Khobragade, NHM State Mission Director Ratan Kelkar, Director of Health Services V. R. Raju and other senior Health officials were among those present.
