'Superb enthusiasm' says Health Minister as child vaccinations cross 1cr

New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted his appreciation at the "superb enthusiasm" of children coming forward to receive their first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as vaccinations in the 15-18 age range crossed the 1 crore mark on Wednesday. The vaccine drive has been ongoing since January 3 and is expected to help get schools back to the normal offline function.

"Superb enthusiasm among Young India for Vaccination...Over 1 crore youngsters between 15-18 age group have received the 1st dose of COVID-19 vaccine that too on the 3rd day of vaccination drive for children. I appeal to all eligible young friends to get vaccinated at the earliest," he added.

There are an estimated 7.4 crore teenagers in this age group. 40 lakh children appeared early on the first day of opening up vaccines in order to get their first dose. They were able to register on the government's CoWIN site via a school identification card or Aadhar.

On Wednesday, India's cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 147.72 crores, which has been achieved through 1,58,21,510 sessions. Schools and colleges as well as public healthcare centres are being used to conduct the vaccination drive, which offers Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children aged 15-18.

While Covaxin is the only vaccine approved for this age group so far, reports have pegged ZyCov-D (produced by Zydus Cadila) as a possible addition to the repertoire as it does not require needles and can be administered nasally in three doses.

Amidst the influx of Omicron cases which have been driving a third wave of infections in the country, precautionary booster doses will begin to roll out for vulnerable populations and healthcare workers from January 10.