Schools reopen, but no vaccine yet for 12-17 age group students

Bengaluru: Although the academic year 2022-23 has begun in the State, there is no sign of the authorities taking up a Covid-19 vaccine drive for children between the age of 12 and 17.

While the primary and secondary schools have already started in the State, in another month, the pre-university colleges will reopen. Experts have warned that the Corona 4th wave will arrive by June or July. Strict measures are being taken in the State against this backdrop by administering booster dose and strictly implementing mask and social distancing norms.

However, delivery of the first dose for those under 17 has not been completed. In the districts around Bengaluru and Kalyana Karnataka, the first dose of vaccine has not been delivered to 60 to 70 percent of children. In Bengaluru, only 69% of children aged 12-14 years have been administered the first dose. The performance of Raichur district is very poor as it is far behind in the delivery of vaccines to children aged 15-17 years.

Coronavirus is currently becoming increasingly common in Western countries and has been steadily increasing in India for the past two months. In Karnataka, the State government has issued the first set of safety measures for Covid control. However, the private hospitals are worried that people over the age of 18 are not getting the vaccine because they have to pay for booster dose.

Health care and frontline workers over the age of 18 are being given a caution dose as a precaution for fourth wave. On an average, only 24% of the people in the State have taken the precaution. Only 16% of workers in Raichur, Chamarajanagar and Yadagiri districts have received the vaccine. Since there was a marked slide in the Covid infection rate in the third wave, people have become slack in taking precaution. "Everybody is hesitant to get the vaccine repeatedly," a health department official said.

It's estimated that 52 lakh children between the ages of 12 and 17 are there in the State. The Health Department has set a target of 20.25 lakh people in the age group of 12-14 years and 31.75 lakh people in the age group of 15-17 years for vaccination. Of these, 44.19 lakh children have been given the first dose of Covidvaccine so far (May 27). The Department of Health has identified that there is delay in delivery of vaccine to 15-17 years old age group in 15 districts of the State.