15.21L children to get Covid jab in Odisha, drive starts from today

The eligible children will have to produce their birth certificate or Aadhaar card to get themselves registered at the vaccination centres.
Image used for representational purpose only. (Photo | AP)
Image used for representational purpose only. (Photo | AP)

BHUBANESWAR: With the Covid-19 vaccination programme for children of 12-14 years age set to be rolled out on Wednesday, Odisha government has decided to administer the doses to the eligible beneficiaries on the basis of their birth certificate or Aadhaar cards.

The Health and Family Welfare department has decided to administer the vaccine to children with on-site registration as the CoWIN portal is yet to update the features for enrollment of the beneficiaries born before March 15, 2010.

The districts have been asked to set up separate vaccination centres as a new vaccine Corbevax will be administered to the children. Initially, the drive will be conducted at schools selected in coordination with the respective district education officer (DEO).

Director of Family Welfare Dr Bijay Panigrahi said though the Ministry of Health has intimated that the registration features will be live on CoWIN by 9 am, vaccinators have been directed to commence inoculation through on-site registration till the system is made fully functional.

“Chief district medical officers have been asked to run the drive during morning hours in view of the heatwave conditions. The School and Mass Education department will coordinate with the SC-ST Development department for smooth conduct of the drive,” he said.

The eligible children will have to produce their birth certificate or Aadhaar card to get themselves registered at the vaccination centres. Since the vax centres will be opened in schools, student ID cards or approval of teachers can also be accepted, he added.

An estimated 15.21 lakh children, including 7.4 lakh girls, in the 12-14 years age group will be administered two doses of Corbevax in a gap of 28 days. The vaccine will be administered through intramuscular route and vaccination of high-risk children will be prioritised.

Odisha has received 15.47 lakh doses of Corbevax. “The vaccine has been dispatched to all districts. The drive will start in the districts which will receive the vaccine by Wednesday morning,” Dr Panigrahi said.

Covid-19 vaccination was rolled out in the State on January 16, 2021 and precautionary dose on January 10 this year. So far, 3.1 crore people have got at least a single dose and 2.72 crore have completed their schedule. As many as 8.3 lakh senior citizens have received precautionary doses.

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