Vaccine for age 15-18 years, Govt update on Covaxin vaccination guidelines

Vaccine for age 15-18 years Nearly 1.29 crore teenagers between the age group of 15 and 18 have been administered their first anti-Covid dose till now, according to the CoWIN dashboard. The Union Health Ministry today update on Covaxin vaccination guidelines for 15-18 age group.

Government clarified on the reports doing round which claims that the approval for Covaxin vaccine for 15-18 yrs age group has been given despite WHO not having accorded Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to its use for 15-18 yrs age group. The ministry clarified that guidelines have been issued by the Union Ministry of Health& Family Welfare.

These guidelines at no place mention about EUL by WHO. The Guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on 27 December 2021, under the heading “New beneficiaries aged 15-18 years” at sub-heading (e), page 4 state that “For such beneficiaries, option for vaccination would only be available for Covaxin as this is the only vaccine with EUL for the age-group 15-18”.

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The EUL by CDSCO, the National Regulator, for Covaxin vaccine for age group 12-18 year age was accorded on 24 December.  Subsequently, the Guidelines for vaccination of 15-18 year age group of young adults and precaution dose for other identified categories was issued by a Union Health Ministry on 27 December.

The Union Health Ministry on Friday termed as “highly ill-informed” and “misleading” media reports suggesting that approval for the Covaxin vaccine in the 15-18 age group has been given despite the WHO not having accorded Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to its use in this age bracket.

One crore children in the 15 to 18 age group were administered the Covid-19 vaccine on the day 3 of the inoculation drive. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan congratulated the teenagers who got jabbed and encourage the eligible ones to get inoculated at the earliest.

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“Young India leads the way in strengthening India’s fight against Covid19. 1 crore vaccination in 3 days reflects the sense of responsibility and enthusiasm of our teenagers,” the minister tweeted. Over 40 lakh teens got their first dose on day one on Monday, January 3.