India will start vaccinating children in the 12-14 age group against Covid from Wednesday, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has tweeted. “If children are safe, the country is safe. It makes me really happy to announce that from March 16, children in (the) 12-14 age group can get vaccinated against Covid,” the minister wrote. All adults above 60 years of age will be able to get booster doses. So far, only those with illnesses above 60 could get the third dose of vaccine apart from frontline and health workers.
India began the world’s largest vaccination programme in January 2021. The first phase was for health workers and frontline workers, and the programme was then expanded to adults above 60 in March 2021, and then to all adults two months later. Amid concerns over new variants, the country began giving booster doses in January. For children, the vaccination for 15-18 age group began in January this year.
The country has given more than 180 crore doses of vaccines so far. After a huge surge in cases in January, driven by Omicron, the country is now witnessing a drop in cases. On Monday, only 2,503 cases were logged, the lowest daily rise in 680 days.
In his tweet, the minister also appealed: “I request all the adults above 60, and family members of children to get the shots.” For the 12-14 age group, the vaccine that will be given “would be Corbevax manufactured by Biological Evans, Hyderabad”, the government said in a statement.
Know more about the History of National Vaccination Day
The National Vaccination Day 2022: The National Vaccination Day also called National Immunization Day is observed on March 16 to mark India’s victory against polio disease.This year Theme is “Vaccines Work For All”.
National Vaccination Day is celebrated every year in the country on March 16 as on the same day the first dose of Oral Polio Vaccine was given in India in 1995. The day is observed to celebrate the Indian government’s Pulse Polio Campaign which was an initiative to eradicate polio from the country.
As per the program, 2 oral drops of polio vaccine were provided for children from the age of 0 to 5 years. This program became a success gradually, as in 2014 India became a polio-free country.
Over a last few decades, vaccines in the country have become an important weapon to fight some fatal diseases like TB, tetanus and more and have saved so many lives. Therefore, this day states that the main importance of vaccination in today’s world cannot be overlooked. There are plenty of vaccination campaigns running across the world to defeat deadly health conditions such as smallpox, measles and especially COVID-19.
National Vaccination Day 2022: India’s Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) began in 1985. The UIP covers:
- BCG vaccine for Tuberculosis
- DPT vaccine for Diphtheria, Pertussis and Tetanus
- OPV vaccine for Poliomyelitis
- Measles vaccine/ Measles and Rubella vaccine
- Hepatitis B vaccine
- TT vaccine
- Pentavalent vaccine for Hib, DPT, Hep B
- JE vaccine (localised)
- Rotavirus vaccine
- PCV for Streptococcus pneumoniae
