Karnataka Has 20 Lakh Doses Of Covaxin Available For Children Between 15 - 18 Years Age Group

The Covaxin campaign for 15-18 year olds will begin in schools and PU colleges on Monday, according to the State Government. Arundhathi Chandrashekar, the Managing Director of the National Health Mission, stated that the state now has 20 lakh doses of Covaxin accessible to vaccinate children against Covid-19. The Centre is prepared to deploy more in response to Karnataka's needs.

She noted that they also have 25 lakh doses of Covishield on hand, with an additional 10-12 lakh doses arriving on Saturday. From January 10 onwards, these will be accessible for prophylactic dosing.

From the ages of 15 and 18, Karnataka must vaccinate 31.75 lakh children. There are 15.31 lakh adults over 60 with co-morbidities who will be willing for the preventive dose, according to estimates. Because the vaccination is effective and has been approved by the Technical Advisory Committee, it can be administered to this age range of essentially adults, according to Dr. Asha Benakappa, chair of the Department of Paediatrics at the Chandramma Dayananda Sagar Institute of Medical Education and Research.

Dr. Asha emphasised that vaccines can prevent patients from serious sickness and death. The virus will be around for a long time, and Covaxin has elicited little reactions. Pandemic weariness has set in, wreaking havoc on children's mental health. They are afraid because they have not yet been vaccinated and are at a critical juncture in their careers. In the case of youngsters under the age of 12, she advises waiting and seeing how children aged 15 to 18 react.

Furthermore, Dr Srikanta J T, Consultant, Aster CMI Hospital, who is also a member of the state Covid-19 committee set up to combat the third wave, stated that while there is mostly a lack of information on vaccine efficacy, vaccination with Covaxin appears to be a protected bet owing to existing technology and predictable negative impacts, especially among children.