Vaccination of children in 12-14 yrs age group begins today; expect glitches

The vaccination drive for children in the age group of 12 to 14 years will start in the city today. However, the Co-WIN app is yet to be upgraded for the age group and the stock of Corbevax, the only vaccine approved for the age group, is limited. The drive will start as a two-day pilot at select centres from 12 noon on walk-in basis, and age of the beneficiaries will be checked manually using IDs for the time being.

Additional BMC Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, "Till Tuesday evening, the Co-WIN app was not upgraded with the new timeline. So there is a possibility that children below the age may also register for the vaccine. However, vaccination at all centres will start only after upgradation of the app. Till then, we have asked the selected centres to verify the date of birth using Aadhaar card, school ID or school leaving certificate. The offline verification process will take time."

A youngster gets a dose of vaccine at Nair hospital. File pic

When asked about the possibility of children below the mandated age registering, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials explained that the central team has said that people can register without disclosing their birthdate on the portal, and hence instructed all to do offline verification.

As per the guidelines issued by the Central government, children born between January 1, 2008 and March 15, 2010 are eligible for the vaccine. The state has received 39 lakh doses of the vaccine from the Centre, of which 1.22 lakh doses or 6,100 vials have been allotted to Mumbai. Each vial is 10 ml, with 20 doses of 0.5 ml each.

The BMC hasn't received the target number for the age group from the state. There are approximately 64.95 lakh children in the state between 12 and 15 years of age. "There wasn't any census carried out after 2011 and the estimated population of the age group in the city is approximately 3.5 to 5.5 lakh," said Kakani.

Speaking on when the drive will be extended to other centres too, a civic official said, "After considering the study after the two-day pilot, difficulties and response at these centres as well as other issues including health facilities, further plans for the vaccination drive will be chalked out," said a civic official.

"Like Covaxin, the period between two doses of Corbevax is 28 days. So, the stock has to be maintained for the second dose also. Right now the number of centres is limited. We are trying to increase the number of centres to 200 with local vaccine centres. We are even reaching out to schools, social service organisations, Ganeshotsav mandals to arrange camps," said another BMC official.

Get Corbevax at...

>> BYL Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central
>> Sir JJ Hospital, Nagpada
>> Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, Sion
>> KEM Hospital, Paral
>> BKC Jumbo Covid Centre, Bandra
>> SevenHills Hospital, Andheri
>> Dr RN Cooper Hospital, Vile Parle West
>> NESCO Jumbo Covid Centre, Goregaon East
>> Dr Ambedkar Hospital, Kandivli West
>> Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar East
>> Shatabdi Hospital, Govandi
>> Savarkar Hospital, Mulund

1.22L
Doses of Corbevax that the BMC received

3.5-5.5 L
Approx no. of 12-14-yr-olds in city