 "Children vaccination")
The first day of the Covid vaccination drive for 12-14 year-old children saw a lukewarm response in the capital with the vaccinators hoping for a better turnout during the weekend when the schools are closed.
In South Delhi's Greater Kailash 1, not a single beneficiary had visited the Pahariwala Gurdwara vaccination centre till noon where empty chairs were seen lined up as frontline workers chit-chatted among themselves.
A dingy corner near the parking area of the Pahariwala Gurdwara served as the vaccination site for the young beneficiaries.
Asked about the response of the inoculation exercise on day one, vaccination officer Pradeep Kumar said that not a single dose has been administered so far.
"No children in the 12-14 year age group have arrived yet at the centre. We opened the centre at around 9 am. A few childre had come but they belonged to a different age group," said Kumar.
Kumar blamed the lack of awareness among people behind the the poor turnout.
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"Parents are not aware of this vaccination drive. Moreover, I feel it is a school day that its why no one has arrived," he said, adding "we are expecting students to come for vaccination on the weekend.".
Day one of the Covid vaccination drive for children aged 12-14 years saw a tepid response at several centres where no or a few beneficiaries arrived for the inoculation.
About 6-7 lakh children in this age bracket are eligible for vaccination in the city, and the number would keep on increasing as days pass, official sources had said on Tuesday.
The city government has received 6,31,400 doses of the Corbevax vaccine, they had said, adding, training has been imparted to staff from all stakeholder departments for the exercise.
However, several other centres in south Delhi also saw a tepid response on Wednesday.
At the Kautilya Government Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya near Chirag Enclave, no one in the 12-14 years age group had been administered the vaccine till 1 pm.
"There is a lack of awareness. Children in schools are not aware of the programme. So we have asked the school to inform parents about it. Moreover, the COWIN system is not updated," Himanshu Kaushal, the vaccination officer said.
The major issue with the vaccination is that each vial has 20 doses and to avoid wastage, 20 children must be present at a time so that doses can be administered within hours of opening the vial.
"Even if a few child arrives, we cannot administer the COVID-19 vaccine because at least 15 children are needed to open a vial," Kumar noted.
A similar reaction was echoed by an official at the Kautilya Government school vaccination centre where a child had arrived for the inoculation but had to be sent back as more beneficiaries were not present there.
"The problem is that a 20-dose vials is available and we cannot open it unless there are enough children. A child arrived for vaccination but we had to send him back because of this," Kaushal said.
Several Covid Vaccination Centres across the 11 districts in Delhi have been identified for the inoculation exercise.
Despite its name mentioned in the list of centres, no vaccination camp was present at the SDMC school in Malviya Nagar.
"There used to be a vaccine camp but it was shifted as the physical classes at the school resumed and there were not enough classes," said an official.
Meanwhile, at a centre in east Delhi's Dilshad Garden, several beneficiaries were administrated the vaccines on day one.
The CVC in-charge there said about 13 students had come for the vaccination till afternoon and most of them study in the same school.
"I took my son and his friend, who is our neighbour, to a government school at J&K pocket at Dilshad Garden for vaccination. His friend's teacher had sent him a message on WhatsApp following which we got to know about the vaccination," said Nasreen, a local resident.
Delhi on Tuesday reported 131 fresh COVID-19 cases and two deaths, while the positivity rate stood at 0.42 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department.
The Centre on Tuesday had released guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination of children between 12-14 years, and said only Corbevax vaccine would be used for the beneficiaries of this age group.
Two doses of Biological E's intramuscular vaccine Corbevax would be administered to the beneficiaries in the 12-14 years age group at an interval of 28 days, the guidelines said.
According to the Centre's guidelines, vaccination of 12-14 years would be conducted through dedicated inoculation sessions to avoid their unintended vaccination with any other COVID-19 vaccines.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
