Children from 15-18 years can register for COVID-19 vaccine on CoWIN website from 1 January: All you need to know

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on 25 December announced three major decisions in the fight against coronavirus including the start of vaccination for children in 15-18 age group from coming 3 January.

He added the government has decided that precautionary dose of vaccine will be started for healthcare and frontline workers starting 10 January 2022. He said the citizens above 60 years facing co-morbidities will have the option of taking precaution dose on the advice of their doctor.

Read on as we have some answers for you.

Vaccines for Children

As India strengthens its fight against COVID-19, children in the age group of 15-18 will be eligible to register on the CoWIN platform for vaccination starting 1 January.

CoWIN platform chief Dr R S Sharma said, "We've added an additional (10th) ID card for registration - the student ID card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards."

CoWIN chief Dr RS Sharma told CNN-News18 that children will have an option to choose between Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Zydus Cadila’s jab.

In his address to the nation, the prime minister said the government was following scientific advice in the vaccination drive against COVID-19. "Vaccination will start in the country for children aged between 15 to 18 years from 3 January 2022," he said.

The prime minister said that 61 percent of the adult population in the country had been given both doses of COVID-19 vaccine while 90 percent of the adult population had received the first dose. India started its COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16 January this year.

The prime minister said that the move to provide vaccination to children in the 15-18 age group is likely to aid in education normalisation in schools and will reduce the worry of the parents with school-going children.

Third dose for above 60 years

The prime minister also announced 'precaution' or booster shots for frontline and healthcare workers, as well as those over 60 years suffering from co-morbidities.

The third dose for adults over the age of 60 will be optional.

However, those applying for the third dose will have to provide a medical certificate to take the dose.

Dr RS Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of National Health Authority (NHA), who also heads the functioning of CoWIN platform, said: "The elderly population that comes above 60 years of age with co-morbidities is eligible for COVID-19 'precautionary doses', will have to take a medical certificate to take the dose. The other process of vaccination will remain the same as before. The CoWIN application has all the details. They have already got two doses, they can go with their Comorbidities certificate and then get the third dose."

Dr Sharma added that the medical certificate of co-morbidity should be signed by any registered medical practitioner that can be uploaded and even beneficiaries can take that along as a hard copy to the vaccination centre.

There are 20 medical co-morbidities criteria including diabetes, kidney disease or on dialysis, cardiovascular diseases, stemcell transplant, cancer, cirrhosis, sickle cell disease, current prolonged use of steroids or immunosuppressant drugs, Muscular dystrophy/acid attack with involvement of respiratory system/Persons with disabilities having high support needs/ Multiple disabilities including deaf-blindness and severe respiratory disease with hospitalisations in last two years.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.