West Bengal to roll out vaccination drive for children aged 12-14 years from March 21

The beneficiaries would be administered only Corbevax and they can book their slots online though the facility of on-site registration will also be available, a State government notification said

The West Bengal government will roll out the inoculation drive for children in the 12-14 years age group from March 21 even though the programme was launched across the country on Wednesday, an official said. The launch of the vaccination drive for children in the State got delayed as "the administration received the standard operating procedures from the Centre late", he said.

The beneficiaries would be administered only Corbevax and they can book their slots online though the facility of on-site registration will also be available, a State government notification said on Thursday.

"[The] COVID-19 vaccination for children in the age group of 12-14 years will start from March 21. Only Corbevax vaccine would be used for the beneficiaries," the notification issued by the State Health Department said.

The Department asked vaccinators to ensure that the vaccine is "administered to only those children who have completed the age of 12 years on the date of immunisation".

"Corbevax will be given from government vaccination centres only. Two doses of it will be administered at an interval of 28 days," the notification added. Dedicated immunisation centres will be established to cover children under the inoculation drive.

“The COVID vaccination centres may be established on school premises following all safety norms,” it added. The Health Department also said precautionary doses would now be provided to all people above 60 years of age.

West Bengal on Thursday reported 94 fresh COVID-19 cases, 29 more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 20,16,675, the Health Department said. The death toll rose to 21,192 as one more person succumbed to the disease.