Health dept asks schools to speed up vaccination of children aged 12 to 15
To increase the pace of vaccination in the district, especially for those in the 12 to 15 years of age, a meeting was held on Tuesday with private hospitals, schools and the district education department where directions were issued to set up camps in schools and ensure all students are vaccinated before the end of summer break
To increase the pace of vaccination in the district, especially for those in the 12 to 15 years of age, a meeting was held on Tuesday with private hospitals, schools and the district education department where directions were issued to set up camps in schools and ensure all students are vaccinated before the end of summer break.
Officials said regular sites have been set up at government centres and private hospitals have also been asked to set up camps in societies and common areas to increase the pace of vaccination.
According to data available with the district health department, there are 94,970 beneficiaries in the 12-15 age group, of whom 65,617 children (75.6%) have taken the first dose while 29,353 (33.1%) have been jabbed with the second dose. Health officials said they are focusing more on this age group as they have started stepping out and are exposed to a lot of things, thereby necessitating the need for vaccinating children in this age bracket.
During the district task force meeting on Tuesday, additional deputy commissioner Vishram Kumar Meena asked the district education officer to visit all the schools and discuss strategies that can be adopted to speed up the vaccination of students. “The schools should ensure all the students are vaccinated with both doses,” he said.
Health officials said 83 hospitals in the district are listed as Covid-19 vaccination centres, but only 22-25 are currently administering vaccines. These centres have been asked to share the data of beneficiaries who have been vaccinated so far, especially those in the age group of 12 to 15 years and upto 18 years of age.
District immunisation officer Dr MP Singh said they have set up 54 vaccination centres in schools for children in the 12-15 age group while 37 centres have been formed for jabbing beneficiaries in the 15-18 age group on Wednesday. “Gurugram has around 85,000 eligible children in the 15-18 age group,” he said.
Chief medical officer of Gurugram Dr Virender Yadav said they have asked the government schools to share data of the number of students who have been vaccinated with the district education officer. “We have also asked the private schools to submit a report of their vaccination plan and the number of students who have been vaccinated with the first and second doses. If any school wants us to set up vaccination camps, we can arrange them accordingly. We are even ready to chalk out a plan as per the timings of the school so that maximum students can be vaccinated,” he said.
Officials of the health department said the pace of vaccination has increased in the district over the last few weeks as more private hospitals have started administering doses and the prices of vaccines have fallen.
Dr Singh informed that on Tuesday, 1,970 children in the age group of 12 to 15 years were vaccinated with the first and second doses while 346 in the age group of 15 to 18 years were jabbed. “No registration is required; all registration is done at the spot on first come, first serve basis,” he said.
According to the health bulletin, Gurugram on Tuesday reported 199 fresh Covid-19 cases along with 284 recoveries. The district now has 885 active cases, of which five patients are hospitalised and the rest 880 are in home isolation. The district recorded a positivity rate of 6.47% on the back of 3,074 tests conducted in the past 24 hours.
