Bhubaneswar: Odisha will be inoculating over 25 lakh in the age group of 15-18 years with vaccine against COVID, Family Welfare Director and state vaccination in-charge Dr Bijay Panigrahi informed on Monday.
Speaking to the media, he said that registration for 25.53 lakh children will soon begin on COWIN and camps will be held in schools and colleges for the vaccination drive. “We are yet to receive the guidelines on the type of vaccines and number of doses to be administered to them. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted emergency use authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV–D vaccine for children above 12 years,” he said.
Also Read: After PM Announcement, Odisha Seeks District-Wise Data Of Children In 15-18 Age Group
He further informed that over seven lakh frontline workers will be administered booster doses. “We have 52.37 lakh population in 60 plus age group, but only those with co-morbidities will be able to take the third dose. The earlier guidance note said that there should be no interchangeability of vaccines. But since the booster dose is being administered as a precautionary dose, we will be able to get a clear indication only after receiving new guidelines from the Centre,” he said.
There should be a minimum of a 3 to 6 months gap between the second and the booster dose, he said, adding that the elderly population above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will have to provide a medical certificate to take the dose.
The senior health official said that there are 2600 functional session sites and 8 mobile teams in each block. “We are well prepared to begin the drive with vaccinators and verifiers and are awaiting for the guidelines to take a decision on how to go about it,” he said
He added that 29 lakh beneficiaries in the state haven’t taken the first dose yet.
In a surprise address on Christmas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India would begin vaccinating children between the age of 15-18 from January 3 and administer COVID-19 ‘precautionary doses’ to healthcare workers and to those above the age of 60 suffering from co-morbidities from January 10.
Also Read: PM Announces Vaccination For Children 15-18, Booster For 60 Plus, Frontline Workers
