Bhubaneswar, Jan 3 (IANS): Amid rise in Covid-19 cases, the vaccination drive for the 15 and 18 years old population began in Odisha on Monday.
A total of 939 dedicated vaccination centres have been set up across the state for the teenage population. Children who have not registered themselves online on the CoWIN portal for the vaccination, can receive the vaccine by doing on-spot registration at the centres, said state nodal officer for Covid-19 vaccination, Bijay Panigrahi.
Only Covaxin vaccine is being given to the children of 15-18 years. Adequate arrangements have been made to deal with any adverse event following immunisation (AEFI), he said.
"As there are possibilities that some children may have fever like minor AEFI, we have decided not to vaccinate the children who are having examinations now. They will be vaccinated after completion of the tests," said Panigrahi.
The health official further informed that all teachers have been requested to create awareness among the students and parents to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of the eligible students in their schools.
The Chief District Medical Officers (CDMOs) have been asked to arrange for vaccination at the school on an agreed scheduled date whereas the school will provide support and facility to the vaccination camp, stated Panigrahi.
To take the jab, a lot of beneficiaries were seen in the vaccination centres in many parts of the state, including capital city Bhubaneswar.
Director of Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar, Laxmidhar Sahoo said the vaccination process for 15-18 years age group is very essential as they are more susceptible to the infection. Target has been set to complete the vaccination process in a month, said Sahoo.
Worth mentioning, the Union Health Ministry has earlier said that those who were born on or before January 1, 2007 will be eligible for the vaccination process. A total of 23.65 lakh children in Odisha are eligible for vaccination against Covid-19.
The state has reported 424 fresh Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours taking the cumulative tally to 10,55,980. Of the total new cases, 47 are in the age group of 0 to 18 years. However, no Covid death was reported in the state on Monday.