Nearly 800 children in 12-14 years group get jabbed on day one

Ballari, Mysuru record highest number of vaccinations

Nearly 800 children in the 12-14 age group got jabbed on day one of the rollout of COVID vaccination for this group. The State has set a target of inoculating 20.25 lakh children in this group with Corbevax. The second dose can be taken 28 days after the first dose.

State Health Commissioner D. Randeep told The Hindu that vaccination was held in all the 30 sessions planned for the day. As many as 799 children were jabbed till 7 p.m. The Commissioner said the progress was relatively low on Wednesday as it was the launch day. “We have also conducted a training for staff involved on Wednesday,” he said.

According to data, Ballari and Mysuru have recorded the highest number of vaccinations in this age group with 74 and 63 children getting jabbed here respectively. This is followed by Koppal and Yadgir where 53 and 44 children have been inoculated respectively. Bengaluru Urban has seen just eleven children getting jabbed with zero vaccinations in BBMP areas.

Launching the vaccination drive for this age group and precaution dose for those above 60 years at the Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institution in Bengaluru, Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said there was good response to the drive from everyone.

Cautioning against complacency, the Minister said even those who have taken the vaccine should not let their guard down. “COVID has not completely gone away yet. However, it has come under control due to vaccination. There is still a long way to go for the complete eradication of SARS-CoV-2,” he said.

Although there are concerns about the possibility of more COVID waves, this can be mitigated to a large extent by vaccination, he said.

Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh said  arrangements were being made to start vaccination for this age group in schools.