Govt outreach for 2nd shot to teens

Over 786,000 kids aged between 15 and 18 in Delhi, of an estimated 1.01 million, have got their first vaccine dose.

With nearly 800,000 children aged between 15 and 18 in the national capital having received their first jab of a Covid-19 vaccine, the state government is now working to ensure these beneficiaries receive their second shot within the stipulated period, said officials aware of the matter.

A health worker administers Covid-19 vaccine at a government school in New Delhi. (AP)

A senior official of Delhi government’s health department on Thursday said 204,913 children in the bracket will be eligible for the second vaccine dose in the first week of February. In the subsequent week, another 300,000 teenagers will be eligible for their second shot, the official said.

According to government estimates, there are nearly 1.01 million children aged between 15 and 18 in the Capital. Of them, 786,611 have received their first vaccine dose, showed data from the CoWin dashboard.

“The date for their second dose appears on the Co-Win portal, but we will send out reminder messages to their registered mobile numbers as well,” the official said.

Data from the central government’s Co-Win dashboard showed that between January 3 — when vaccinations for this age group began — and January 7, Delhi administered over 200,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Between January 8 and January 14,302,553 eligible teenagers were given their first doses and 219,660 children received their vaccine shots in the next week. Between January 22 and January 27, the city administered 47,261 first doses to children in this age-group.

Children between ages 15 and 18 across the country are being administered doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, a two-dose vaccine, with the second jab to be administered between four to six weeks after the first.

Officials also said district administrations are also trying to reach out to children who are yet to get vaccinated.

“We are trying to reach out to children in schools, homeless children, street vendors and other children unaccounted for in government records,” an east Delhi district official said.