New Delhi:After the announcement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to vaccinate children between 15 and 18 years against Covid-19, CoWIN platform chief Dr RS Sharma on Monday stated that the age group will be eligible to register on CoWIN platform from January 1.
The students, he said, can also using their school ID cards to register for the inoculation drive.
"We've added an additional (10th) ID card for registration - the student ID card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards", said Dr Sharma.
Emphasising precaution in view of the rise in cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on December 25 announced three major decisions in the fight against the disease including the start of vaccination for children in the 15-18-age group from coming January 3.
In his address to the nation, the Prime Minister said the government was following scientific advice in the vaccination drive against COVID-19. "Vaccination will start in the country for children aged between 15 to 18 years from January 3, 2022," he said.
"The government has decided that precautionary dose of vaccine will be started for healthcare and frontline workers starting January 10, 2022. Citizens above 60 years facing co-morbidities will have the option of taking "precautionary" dose on the advice of their doctor," he added.
The Prime Minister said that 61 per cent of the adult population in the country had been given both doses of COVID-19 vaccine while 90 per cent of the adult population has gone the first dose. India started the COVID vaccination drive on January 16 this year.
Also read:35 per cent of adult population yet to be vaccinated: Congress
The Prime Minister said that the move to provide vaccination to children in the 15-18 age group is likely to aid in education normalization in schools and will reduce the worry of the parents with school-going children.
