Assam aims to administer first Covaxin dose to all teenagers in 15-18 yrs category within Jan 9: Health min

Guwahati, Dec 31

The Assam government is targeting to administer the first dose of Covaxin to all teenagers in the 15-18 years age group within seven days from the beginning of the national inoculation drive for this category from January 3, Health Minister Keshab Mahanta said on Friday.

The administration aims to fully vaccinate the students by mid-February before their annual and board examinations begin by the end of that month.

“As the people in the 15-18 years age group are mostly students, we have decided to carry out the drive at schools and colleges. Detailed discussions have been held with deputy commissioners and other officials, and they are ready to set up the vaccination centres at the educational institutions in a phased manner,” the minister told reporters.

“We aim to administer the first dose to all the beneficiaries within seven days from January 3, when the national drive begins. We will give Covaxin to the youngsters so that they are able to take the next dose by mid-February. Our target is to ensure that students are fully vaccinated well before their annual and board examinations, which will begin in February-end,” he said.

Mahanta urged the guardians to ensure that their wards are vaccinated as no online examinations are likely to be held in this term and the students can safely sit for their offline exams.

Besides the special camps at the educational institutions, all regular vaccination sites will have a special counter for the 15 to 18 years category, he said.

The minister said that a detailed plan for giving booster dose to people above 60 years of age and frontline workers from January 10 is also being worked on. PTI