Amid Covid spike in NCR, Chandigarh adviser says speed up children’s immunisation

The adviser directed the health department to adopt a pro-active approach for early vaccination of eligible children in Chandigarh

Amid another surge in Covid-19 cases in Delhi and Haryana, UT adviser Dharam Pal on Monday convened a high-level meeting and expressed concerns over the slow pace of vaccination, especially among children.

Chandigarh has been able to fully inoculate only 52% children in the 15-18 age group category, where the target is 72,000, though the first dose coverage has reached 90%. (HT File Photo)

The adviser directed the health department to adopt a pro-active approach for early vaccination of eligible children in Chandigarh.

“Due to good coverage of vaccination among adults before the third wave of the pandemic, which had peaked in January this year, the hospitalisation and fatality rates remained low. Now, efforts should be made to vaccinate all eligible children within 15 days. For this, camps should be organised in schools and assistance from NGOs/religious organisations should be obtained,” he said.

The vaccination drive for children in the 15-18 age group kicked off on January 3, while that for those in the 12-15 age group began on March 16. The older children are being provided Covaxin vaccine, while the younger lot are being administered Corbevax. The second dose for both vaccines is provided after a gap of 28 days.

But four months on, Chandigarh has been able to fully inoculate only 52% children in the 15-18 age group category, where the target is 72,000, though the first dose coverage has reached 90%.

In the 12-15 age group category, the target population is 45,000, but a month on only 29% have gotten the first dose, while the double dose coverage stands at 0.47%.

Wear masks in public, advises health secretary

UT health secretary Yashpal Garg on Monday advised the residents of Chandigarh to wear face masks while visiting crowded places. “Masks should be worn, especially in closed environments like buses, trains, aircraft, cabs, cinema halls, shopping malls, departmental stores, classrooms, offices and indoor gatherings. If cases increase in Chandigarh in the coming days, we will make masks compulsory again,” he said.

Seven new cases in Chandigarh tricity

Even as Covid-19 cases are spiking in the national capital region, the Chandigarh tricity area continued to report less than 10 infections for the 23rd straight day.

A total of seven people were found infected on Monday – four from Mohali and three from Chandigarh.

Panchkula logged no new case for the fourth consecutive day. However, tricity’s active cases rose from 33 to 35 in the past 24 hours.

Among these 35 patients, 21 are recuperating in Chandigarh, 11 in Mohali and three in Panchkula.