Bhopal, Mar 23 (IANS): Anti-Covid vaccination drive for children between 12 and 14 age groups began on Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.

The drive began a week after the most of the states started vaccinating children of the same age group. Many states have stared vaccinating children of this age group from March 16.

It is estimated that there are around 30 lakh children belonging to this age bracket in the state. Children aged 12 and 13 years will be given Corbevax, and those aged 14 and above of it will get Covaxin, said an official associated with the state health department, who was present at the vaccination programme launched by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Bhopal on Wednesday.

Vaccination for children aged between 12 and 14 has been started after necessary training to the frontline workers for all block and district level.

The government has targetted to vaccinate around 50,000 children in this age group in Indore district and nearly 43,000 in Bhopal on the first day. Children will get a jab at their schools or nearest vaccination centre. For children, who do not have any documentation, district administrations have made special arrangements.

"At every vaccination centre, health workers have been asked to thoroughly check the birth date of children before administering the vaccine to ensure that the kid is not below 12 years. We have also decided to release a detailed FAQ as children and their parents may have questions related to their vaccination," official added.

Covid-19 preventive vaccination of children in the age-group of 15-18 years had started on January 3. For such beneficiaries, the vaccination option is only Covaxin.

Meanwhile, precaution doses are available to all eligible persons above 60 years from Wednesday. They will not be required to submit any medical certificate for getting inoculated.