KOLKATA: Vaccination among the adolescents in the age group 12 to 14 years has been started across the state with Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) launching 37 units on Monday. Around 88,842 children between 12 to 14 have been given vaccination till 8 pm on Monday, a senior health official said.
Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim inaugurated the vaccination programme and interacted with children at Chetla Girls High School. Precautionary doses have been started for elderly citizens who are aged 60 and above. Earlier, the senior citizens with only comorbidities were getting precautionary doses.
"There is curiosity among children. Many students and parents have come. They are waiting in the waiting room. Documents school certificate or Aadhaar card is availing the vaccine. We are also spreading awareness among parents and children," said Hakim, while briefing reporters. He reiterated that KMC has been given the responsibility to administer vaccines among children between the age group of 12 and 14 years.
Director of Health Services Dr Ajay Chakraborty said there are a total 334 Covid vaccination centers (CVC) at schools while 356 CVCs are in hospitals/BPHS/UPHS. Meanwhile, a government girls' school in Jalpaiguri courted controversy after it imprinted a stamp on the hands of the girl students who were administered a vaccine on Monday. Vaccination was started among the adolescents in the age group 12-14 across Bengal. The school authority and local civic body blamed each other for this. The school authority stopped the imprints following the intervention of the District Magistrate.
KMC has written to the schools in the city whether they would want to be a part of the vaccination drive for the school students of this particular age group. If they are willing, KMC can arrange vaccinators so that the latter can go to the interested schools and offer the jab to their respective students. On Monday, vaccines were administered in 21 schools including Chetla Girls High School.
Names can be registered in the Cowin portal or at the vaccination centre itself. Any photo identification card of the student recipient or student's identity card having a unique number can be used for registration at the centre.
The KMC had readied 37 vaccination centres across its 16 boroughs to administer the Covid shot to children aged between 12 and 14 years from March 21, 2022. These 37 units have so far been administering Covaxin. From Monday, Biological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax is being administered to the children in the 12-14 age group.
Approximately 30 lakh population belonging to this age will be covered. Corbevax vaccine, which is India's first indigenously, developed Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) Protein subunit vaccine against covid-19. It is administered through an intramuscular route with two doses scheduled 28 days apart.