Poor vaccination coverage among 12-15 age group in city

Since the beginning of the drive for 12-15 age groups on March 16, 22,104 out of the four lakh eligible children took their first dose

Mumbai About 25% of Maharashtra’s 12-15 age group population have been inoculated with the first dose, figures revealed.

As compared to the rest of Maharashtra, the state’s capital has seen a slow start, with the city logging a mere 5.5% (Pratik Chorge/HT PHOTO)

As compared to the rest of Maharashtra, the state’s capital has seen a slow start, with the city logging a mere 5.5%. With the exams over, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is looking forward to vaccinating these children with the first dose of Corbevax.

Since the beginning of the drive for 12-15 age groups on March 16, 22,104 out of the four lakh eligible children took their first dose.

“We have not seen a good response so far because of the exams. We are also not pressurising till the exams get over. However, in the last few days, we are seeing the vaccination picking up pace,” said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, BMC.

The corporation has also roped in an NGO- Project Mumbai, to coordinate with schools. The NGO said that they have been getting responses from private schools and are looking forward to 10,000 vaccinations this week.

Shishir Joshi, Founder and CEO of Project Mumbai, said, “We started off on March 19 with one team that was vaccinating close to 150 children a day. From this week, we will have three to four teams going for the vaccination camps.”

He said that while there is surely some amount of hesitancy, the requests for holding vaccination camps at schools are increasing. “The slow pick-up can be attributed to the exam season. Schools have shown interest in holding vaccination camps, but they want to do it after the exam. They feel the side-effects may affect the child’s performance,” said Joshi.

Saba Patel, principal of Anjuman-I-Islam High School, Bandra, said, “At my school, exams for classes V to VIII are currently underway, while exams for class IX concluded recently. All our exams will be over by April 8, and results will be announced by month-end.”

Parent groups feel that many might not opt for the vaccination unless the need arrives. “The current academic year is almost coming to an end, so unless the Covid scenario becomes more severe or schools reopen for the next academic year, most parents might not opt for the jab,” said Anubha Sahai, president of India Wide Parents Association.

When the Mumbai civic body first started the vaccination drive for those over 15 years of age, several city schools had encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated by organising camps on campus.

“Last time (when vaccination for the 15-plus age group started), we had received requests from some of the parents to arrange a vaccination drive on campus, and we obliged. This time around, we haven’t received many requests as yet,” said Rupa Roy, principal of Balmohan Vidyamandir, Dadar. “If the BMC reaches out to us or parents request for another vaccination camp, we will not hesitate in facilitating the same,” she added.

In the state, 25% of the 12-15 age group population has been vaccinated with districts like Ahmednagar (74,901), Kolhapur (61,121), Nashik (88,957), Pune (91,952), Sangli (60,305) topping the list.

Dr Sachin Desai, state immunisation officer, said that they have seen a good response in other parts of the state. “We saw a little more than 10 lakh children in the state who have taken their first dose. The districts that have seen a good response have tied up with the schools and conducted the vaccination,” he said.

Corbevax vaccine is manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological E.Limited. It is a two-dose vaccine schedule given 28 days apart and through an intramuscular route.