Vaccination for 12-14 year olds, boosters for all above 60 to begin from March 16

On Monday, March 14, 2022, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Covid-19 immunisation for 12-14-year-olds and the ‘precaution dosage’ for all those above 60 years will commence on March 16.

“If the children are safe, then the country is safe,” Mansukh wrote in Hindi as he shared the news on Twitter and urged the families of children and people in the age group of 60+ that they must get vaccinated.

The coronavirus vaccine to be given to children aged 12 to 14 will be Corbevax, which is made by Biological Evans in Hyderabad.

“The Union government after due deliberations with scientific bodies has decided to start COVID19 vaccination for 12-13 yr and 13-14 yr age groups (those born in 2008, 2009 and 2010. I.E those who are already above 12 years of age) of the population from March 16, 2022,” the health ministry said in a statement.

Earlier, only citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidity were allowed to be administered precaution doses.

The nationwide immunisation campaign began on January 16 of last year, with healthcare workers (HCWs) receiving vaccinations in the first phase. Frontline workers (FLWs) have been vaccinated since February 2 of last year. The second vaccination phase began on March 1 for persons over the age of 60 and those aged 45 and over who have certain co-morbid disorders.

From April 1, 2021, the Modi government began vaccinating all people above the age of 45, and on May 1, 2021, it decided to expand its vaccination campaign by allowing anybody over the age of 18 to get vaccinated.

The next phase of Covid-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years. The country began administering precaution doses to healthcare workers, frontline workers, including personnel deployed for election duty and those aged 60 and above with co-morbidities, from January 10 this year amid a spike in coronavirus infections fuelled by the Omicron variant of the virus in the country.

In India, daily Covid-19 instances fell even lower, with 2,503 new infections documented in the latest 24 hours, the lowest level in 680 days. The number of open cases has also fallen to 36,168, the lowest level in 675 days.