The government is likely to announce vaccination programme for children in the 12-15 age group after March 15, a highly-placed official told BusinessLine. The government is also examining booster doses for those under 60 years with comorbid conditions, the source added. 

“Our priority is to vaccinate the unvaccinated first. We will come out with the immunisation programme for those under 12-15 age set after March 15. On March 10, election results will be out, after which our expert team will do a detailed analysis on the booster doses for those under 60 and about the children’s vaccination,” said the source.

However, the government anticipates lack of enthusiasm for vaccination as with the receding of the Covid-19 pandemic, the scale and pace of vaccination has slowed down. There are many vaccines under consideration.

“People are not sending their children for vaccination as there has been a significant decline in the number of infections. Also, the symptoms are very mild. Besides Covaxin, Serum Institute of India’s Covovax is under final clinical trial stage. Biological E’s Corbevax is also available for children. We are evaluating every option available. We will take a final decision after detailed analysis,” the source stated. 

No takers for ZyCovD

Zydus Cadila had delivered 5-6 lakh vaccine doses to five States, including Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Punjab, but not a single jab has been administered so far. The three-dose vaccine, administered intradermally, received the approval for emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the drug regulator Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D on August 20. 

“Not a single shot has been administered so far of ZyCov D. We had received 5-6 lakh doses from the company and had delivered to the five States. With the receding cases, people seem to be complacent about another surge,” said the source. 

In addition, on Wednesday, India reported 15,102 Covid cases, with 278 deaths in the last 24 hours till 8:00 am, according to Health Ministry data. The cases were slightly higher than the previous day’s infections of 13,405, and also less than 30,000 for the last six days. The daily positivity rate stood at 1.28 per cent, and the weekly positivity rate was at 1.80 per cent. Also, the country conducted 11.83 lakh Covid tests on Monday, taking the total of 76.24 crore tests done so far. On a cumulative basis, the country’s total Covid burden so far has been at 4.28 crore, second to the US, which has recorded 7.28 crore infections as of now. 

Also, in Mumbai, 168 cases were recorded on Wednesday evening with zero deaths. According to aencies, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority(DDMA) will hold a meeting on February 25 to further decide on relaxing Covid restrictions.

As of now, the State governments are lying with the vaccine stock of 10.98 crore. More than 26 lakh doses were administered till 7 pm on Wednesday, aggregating to more than 176.47 crore doses given so far. 

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