GB Nagar admin to start vaccination for parents of children below 12 years from June 1

Following directions from the Uttar Pradesh government, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration will begin vaccinating parents of children below 12 years of age against Covid-19 from June 1

Following directions from the Uttar Pradesh government, the Gautam Budh Nagar district administration will begin vaccinating parents of children below 12 years of age against Covid-19 from June 1.

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The vaccinations will be conducted at two special centres - at JP International School at Greater Noida Omega 1 with 100 daily doses and the other at the primary health centre (PHC) at Bisrakh with 300 doses a day. Both centres will administer Covishield vaccine.

“Parents need to register and book their slots on the Co-WIN portal to get vaccinated at these Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs). They have been named ‘Abhibhavak Special No 1’ and ’Abhibhavak Special No 2’ on the portal. Those who book their slots at these centres will have to show proof that at least one of their children is below 12 years of age at the site, else they won’t be administered the vaccine,” said Dr Neeraj Tyagi, district immunisation officer.

The slots for the two centres began Monday. By evening, all slots were booked at both centres and did not show any slots for the next few days. The age grouping on the site also mentioned it was open for all adults under 45 years of age. Tyagi said they would see the response and allot more slots in the coming days.

An order from the UP additional chief secretary to all district’s dated May 30 elaborated on the rules for the special vaccination centres.

At the time of vaccination, the guardian should show the proof of the age of their child (Aadhaar/birth certificate / school ID card) and will be verified at the gate.

According to Dr (Brig) Rakesh Gupta, director of the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida, in the event of a third wave, children may also get the virus and it was imperative to protect those closest to them till a vaccination for them was approved.

“In the second wave, we saw that the children got the virus from their parents. If we can ensure the parents are vaccinated, we can reduce the chance of them catching the virus, ” said Dr Gupta who is also the former head of paediatrics at the Armed Forces Combined Hospital in Pune.

Dr NK Sharma, president of the Indian Medical Association (Noida) said, “Though no guidelines have come from the government for vaccination of children, I believe a decision on the same should be expedited. If we really want to safeguard our children before the third wave hits us, we should soon look for ways to vaccinate children as well.”

Bharat Biotech is expected to conduct trials of its vaccine Covaxin among 12- to 15-year-olds. World over, only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use in children in the US, Canada and Europe.