NEW DELHI: A total of 898 children from several juvenile homes of the city in the 15-18 age group received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccines on Friday. As per officials, around 3,000 children are living in juvenile homes across Delhi and 1,200 of them belong to 15-18 age group.
“All the children have willingly come forward to get the jab and have shown no sign of hesitancy. We have been counselling these teenagers and sensitising them about the importance of vaccination programmes,” said an official deployed in the vaccination programme.
According to an official with the Women and Child Development (WCD) department of the Delhi government, “Some of these teenagers have been in conflict with the law and therefore, they need to be dealt with extreme care, and this is why we also counselled our doctors and paramedical staff.”
The official added: “We collaborated with the DMs of the districts for a better vaccination facility. The district administration shared the total list of children in respective districts’ juvenile homes and coordination was made with them for a smooth vaccination process.”
According to the officials in the department, private organisations were not included in the vaccination process. “We did not include any private organisation for the same, since the identities of the children are not supposed to be disclosed,” revealed an official from the WCD department.
However, to generate awareness and support mobilisation NGOs played a vital role, the official added.
As not all the teenagers had made their Aadhar cards, some of them were administered the vaccine based on their school certificates. Many of the children were yet to get their Aadhar card as it is under process, the official added. For all teenagers who tested positive in the second and third waves, their inoculation drive would be conducted later, the officials said.
Covid-19 vaccination drive for beneficiaries in the age bracket of 15-18 years was launched on January 3. The Union Health Ministry had approved Covaxin for beneficiaries below 18 years. Beneficiaries aged 18 and above are eligible for all vaccines.