Andhra Pradesh tops list with 39.8% of 15-17 yrs administered first dose of COVID-19 vaccine: Govt

@the_news_21

Andhra Pradesh tops the list with 39.8 per cent of the target population in the age group of 15-17 years being administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in the first two days since the inoculation drive began for this category of beneficiaries in the country.

The southern state is followed by Himachal Pradesh, which has jabbed 37 per cent of the target beneficiaries in this category with first dose, and Gujarat at 30.9 per cent, officials said.

India opened up vaccination for the 15-18 years age-group on January 3 and so far over 85 lakh beneficiaries in the category have received the first shot.

According to officials, in Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, 28.3 per cent of those of the 15-18 age group have been administered the first dose followed by Karnataka at 25.3 per cent, Uttarakhand 22.5 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 20.6 per cent and Chhattisgarh 20.5 per cent.

The vaccine option against COVID-19 for children in the age group of 15-18 years is Covaxin only.

The registration for this category of beneficiaries opened up on January 1 and according to the guidelines, they can self-register, online through an existing account on CoWIN or by creating a new account through a unique mobile number. At present, this facility is available for all eligible citizens.

Such beneficiaries can also register onsite by the verifier/vaccinator in facilitated registration mode. Appointments can be booked online or onsite (walk-in).

With the administration of more than 96 lakh (96,43,238) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 147.72 crore as per provisional reports till 7 am, the health ministry said on Wednesday.

This has been achieved through 1,58,21,510 sessions.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years to be vaccinated from May 1.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination has commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.