The vaccination for children aged between 15 and 18 years got off to a start in Mysuru on Monday with the Department of Health and Family Welfare identifying about 1.47 lakh beneficiaries.
Minister in charge of Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar inaugurated the drive at the Maharani’s College on N.S. Road in the presence of S.A. Ramdas, L. Nagendra, MLAs; Deputy Commissioner Bagadi Gautham, District Health Officer K.H. Prasad, and others.
As many as 100 teams will carry out vaccination with about 30 teams available in Mysuru city and 10 teams each for the taluks, on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 200 teams will take up vaccination with 60 teams available for the city and 20 teams each for the taluks.
The teams have the task of vaccinating 52,943 children in Mysuru city alone. The authorities are hoping to complete the task within a fortnight.
Dr. K.H. Prasad said efforts are being made to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of 1,48,184 children aged between 15 and 18 years in a span of 15 days. He, however, said there is no compulsion for the children to bring mobile phones to the schools or colleges for the registration for receiving the jabs. They need to bring their Aadhaar card and the mobile number (parents’ numbers) to get the jabs, he added.
The children who have dropped out of school or not going to school or college for various reasons will also get the jab as the authorities concerned have prepared the list of such beneficiaries and they can visit the nearest vaccination site.
The DHO urged the parents not to give any heed to rumors and encourage their wards to get the vaccines for safeguarding them against the disease.
Mysuru also got fresh stocks of Covaxin, the vaccine that has been approved for administering to the age group.
The vaccination camps in schools and colleges are being conducted with the support of Mysuru City Corporation and the Departments of Public Instruction and Pre-University Education besides the managements of private schools and managements. The drive in taluks will be coordinated by the administrations in the respective taluks.
Thanks to awareness on the vaccination, there was not much anxiety among the children about the shots as they enthusiastically took the jab. The children are eligible for the second dose after a gap of 28 days.
