As COVID vaccination expands to age 12-14, PM lauds India's scientific pandemic response

In a massive boost to India's COVID vaccine drive, children aged between 12 to 14 are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations from Wednesday, March 16. Announcing the same, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tweet stated that today was an important day for the country. Lauding India’s vaccination drive, which has been the largest in the world so far, PM Modi urged people of all eligible age groups to get fully vaccinated.

Taking to his Twitter handle, PM Modi announced that youngsters between the 12-14 age group are eligible to get vaccinated starting today. He also added that all persons above 60 have been made eligible for an additional precautionary dose. In a long thread, PM Modi hailed India’s vaccination drive as being successful and heaped praise on scientists, innovators and healthcare workers for their efforts in achieving milestones in the vaccination drive.

“Today is an important day in India’s efforts to vaccinate our citizens. Now onwards, youngsters in the 12-14 age group are eligible for vaccines and all those above 60 are eligible for precaution doses. I urge people in these age groups to get vaccinated,” PM Modi tweeted. “India’s vaccination drive, which is the largest in the world, is science-driven. We began work to create vaccines in early 2020, to protect our citizens and strengthen our fight against the pandemic,” he further said emphasising on the journey of the vaccine drive.

PM Modi shares timeline of  the world's ‘most-successful’ vaccination drive

Furthermore, PM Modi also shared the journey of the ‘most-successful’ vaccination drive with a timeline. “The manner in which our scientists, innovators and the private sector rose to the occasion is commendable. In late 2020, I had visited three of our vaccine manufacturers and got first-hand details of their efforts to protect our citizens,” PM Modi said in a tweet.  

The PM noted that the vaccination drive for doctors, healthcare and frontline workers began in January 2021, which in turn ensured proper protection to the people at the forefront of the fight at the earliest. “In March 2021, vaccination was opened to those above 60 and those over 45 with comorbidities. Later, the vaccination opened for all those above 18. It should make every Indian proud that the vaccines are free of cost for those who want it,” PM Modi said.

India administers over 180 crore vaccine doses so far

The PM went on to note that India has administered a total of over 180 crore doses, which includes over 9 crore doses in the age group of 15-17 and over 2 crore precaution doses so far. PM Modi also lauded the citizens and said that the people are voluntarily taking vaccination, unlike other nations where vaccine hesitancy is witnessed. The PM also took the opportunity to laud the state governments for their support towards India’s vaccination drive.

PM Modi further shared the success of India’s Vaccine Maitri programme, which helped the global fight against the pandemic. “In line with India’s ethos of caring for the entire planet, we sent vaccines to several nations under the Vaccine Maitri programme. I am glad that India’s vaccination efforts have made the global fight against COVID-19 stronger,” the PM’s tweet read.

“Today, India has many ‘Made in India’ vaccines. We have also granted approval to other vaccines after a due process of evaluation. We are in a much better position to fight this deadly pandemic,” PM Modi said concluding his long thread of tweets speaking about the country’s vaccination drive. He also noted that the pandemic was not over and urged people to keep following all COVID related precautions.

COVID vaccine for kids

In yet another step towards India’s goal of complete vaccination, children in the 12-14 years age group are now available to get jabs. The announcement from the health ministry came after the government gave its nod for the Corbevax vaccine manufactured by Biological E. Limited. Developed by the Hyderabad-based company in collaboration with the Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, the Corbevax vaccine was given nod to vaccinate the 12 to 14 age group in February. It had received permission for rollout in the country earlier in December 2021.

It is important to note that the children of age 15-18 were being given doses of Bharat biotech manufactured Covaxin. The decision to allow younger children to take vaccines has been taken after "due deliberation" by the Union Government with the scientific bodies, the statement added. Amongst the age group between 15-17, more than 9 crore people were vaccinated as of Tuesday.  

Image: PTI