The Central Government on Tuesday issued guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccination of children of 12 to 14 years starting from March 16 i.e. today. The government clarified that only children in this age group would be vaccinated against Corbevax.
As per the guidelines, two doses of Corbevax vaccine developed by ‘Biological-E’ will be given to children aged 12 to 14 years at an interval of 28 days. On Monday, the Central Government issued a letter and shared these guidelines with all the states and union territories.
The letter states that all children born in 2010 or earlier, who have attained the age of 12 years, will be able to register on the Kovin portal. Also the vaccinator has to ensure that it is being given only to children who have completed 12 years of age on the date of vaccination.
Let us tell you that as of March 1, 2021, there were at least 4.7 crore children of 12 and 13 years in the country.
The letter further said that all elderly people aged 60 years and above can now be given a precautionary dose and this dose will be given on a priority and sequential basis after completion of nine months i.e. 39 weeks from the date of second dose.
It has been clarified in the guidelines that the same vaccine should be used in the precautionary dose, which was given in the primary vaccination.