BHUBANESWAR: Amid the rapid surge in Covid-19 cases, vaccination drive for adolescents in the 15 to 18 years age group commenced across Odisha on Monday.
Apart from the existing 2,700 vaccination centres, the state government has designated 939 exclusive vaccination centres to facilitate smooth inoculation of teenagers. The vaccination was carried out in as many as 3,193 session sites on the first day, Health and Family Welfare department sources said.
Beneficiaries were seen lining up at the vaccination centres for their turn in the morning. The drive at most of the centres started after 9 am.
Mayurbhanj CDMO Rupabhanu Mishra said the vaccination drive carried out at the designated vaccination centres of the district remained smooth. He said the response from the teenagers was also good on the first day.
A teenager, who turned up for vaccination, at one of the designated centres in Sambalpur district said the inoculation process was smooth even though she had opted for offline registration. “Though I was nervous, I felt safer and protected from the infection after getting the jab,” she said.
Director of Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar Dr Laxmidhar Sahoo said beneficiaries registered their names on the CoWIN portal as well as those who have opted for on-site registration are being given shots.
Sahoo said immunisation of adolescents was highly essential as children in this age group are more active and susceptible to catching the infection.
Additional district urban public health officer (ADUPHO) Antaryami Mishra, the nodal officer for vaccination in Bhubaneswar, said provision has been made for the administration of 150 doses of vaccine in each centre every day.
The state has around 23.65 lakh eligible beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 year age group.
With the state government planning to complete the vaccination process of teenagers within a month, the Health Department has asked school and college principals to share the list of students eligible to get the jabs. The educational institutions have also been asked to provide adequate space for inoculation on their campuses in the coming days.
Health department officials said eligible teenagers can register in the CoWIN portal and also opt for on-site registration for the vaccination.
Health officials said efforts are on to inoculate beneficiaries in the 15 to 18 age group at the earliest in view of the rapid surge in Covid infections and a sudden spike in Omicron cases in the state in the recent days.
Over 800 cases of Covid-19 has been reported in the state in the last 48 hours. The state logged 424 more confirmed infections in the last 24 hours. Khurda district reported the highest 151 cases followed by 66 in Cuttack.
Besides, the State’s Omicron tally also jumped to 37 after 23 more tested positive for the new infectious variant of Covid-19 on Sunday.