Covid vaccination drive in 12-14 age group yet to gather steam in Panchkula

Amit Bathla

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Panchkula, March 31

With only 2,066 children vaccinated in the 12-14 age group so far, the drive has yet to gain steam.

There are around 25,000 kids in this age group, who are to be administered the Corbevax vaccine. The current coverage stands at a mere 8.26 per cent.

The exam season was the main reason for low response, health officials said.

With the exam season coming to an end, the local health administration is looking forward to vaccinating these children with the first dose of Corbevax. For tomorrow, 11 centres have been designated for the inoculation of vaccine among children in the 12-14 age group.

District Immunisation Officer Meenu Sasan said they had seen a poor response due to the exams.

“We didn’t pressure to intensify the drive till the end of exam. With the exams over, we are hoping to improve the vaccine numbers,” she said.

Sadan added that they were also conducting house-to-house survey to identify the children who were yet to receive the jab.

“We could have set up more centres, but since it’s a new vaccine, parents are little apprehensive. They will take their children to centres to get them vaccinated after seeing the response. The major challenge before us in vaccinating beneficiaries in the 12-14 year age group is that each vial of Corbevax has 20 doses and we want minimum wastage as well,” the immunisation officer added.

The drive for the children in the 12-14 age group had begun on March 16. Only 60 children were vaccinated on the inaugural day. The district’s current stock of Corbevax, as per the Health Department, stands at 7,901.

No new case in Panchkula district

Panchkula: The district reported no fresh coronavirus case on Thursday, keeping the tally unchanged at 44,133. The active caseload stands at four. The death count is 414. The number of recoveries stands at 43,715. TNS