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Unvaccinated kids in Chandigarh may be barred from attending school
The announcement came a day after Chandigarh adviser Dharam Pal convened a high-level meeting and expressed concerns over the slow pace of vaccination, especially among children
Stepping up local measures in view of the spike in Covid-19 cases in Delhi and Haryana again, the UT administration on Tuesday said they may soon bar unvaccinated children from attending physical classes at schools.
“Though the anti-Covid vaccination is voluntary among the children and adults, it is worth mentioning that vaccines are safe for the children. We have not recorded any adverse effect among the children post immunisation. Considering the increasing number of Covid cases and to protect the children, the unvaccinated children may be advised not to attend physical classes in the next few days,” said UT health secretary Yashpal Garg, in a public notice.
The announcement came a day after UT adviser Dharam Pal convened a high-level meeting and expressed concerns over the slow pace of vaccination, especially among children. The adviser had directed the health department to adopt a pro-active approach for early vaccination of eligible children in Chandigarh and vaccinate all of them within 15 days.
Special vaccination camps at schools
Taking note of low vaccination coverage among children, the health secretary has directed the UT education secretary and schools to compile data of unvaccinated children (separate lists for 12-15 and 15-18 age groups), so that a schedule for special camps at schools can be prepared by the health department.
Garg said, “We should attempt to vaccinate at least 50 children at each of the vaccination camps. The school authorities can contact district immunisation officer Dr Manjit Singh to organise vaccination camps, even at a short notice of one day only.”
The health secretary also advised teachers and students to wear face masks inside classrooms.
The vaccination drive for children in the 15-18 age group started 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 vaccine. 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 53% 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 after a month, only 30% have gotten the first dose, while the double dose coverage stands at 0.58%.
Panchkula clocks three Covid cases after none for four days
After logging no new Covid-19 case for four consecutive days, Panchkula detected three fresh infections on Tuesday.
Mohali also reported three positive cases and Chandigarh one, taking tricity’s daily tally to seven.
With this, tricity’s active caseload also increased from 35 to 38 between Monday and Tuesday. Now, 21 patients are recuperating in Chandigarh, 14 in Mohali and three in Panchkula.
The daily positivity rate was less than 1% in both Mohali and Panchkula, but 2.34% in Chandigarh.
