Children between 15-18 years can register for Covid vaccination on the CoWIN portal from January 1, said RS Sharma, chairman of the government panel managing the platform, on Monday, ANI reported.
Sharma told ANI that the government has made an additional provision for students to use their ID cards for registration as some might not have Aadhaar cards.
Children between 15 and 18 years of age can self-register for vaccination through an existing account on the CoWin platform. They can also create a new account through a unique mobile number.
People in this age group can also be registered on site by the verifier or the person administering the vaccine. They can book appointments online as well as at the vaccination centre.
Currently, Covaxin is the only available vaccine that has received emergency use listing from the Drugs Controller General of India for children.
As the country grapples with the prospect of another Covid wave, fuelled by the Omicron variant this time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that India’s vaccination programme will be opened to children over the age of 15 from January 3.
Biotechnology company Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin received the Drugs Controller General of India’s emergency use approval for use in children on Saturday.
This was the second Covid-19 vaccine to have received emergency use authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India for children.
On August 20, pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila’s needle-free vaccine ZyCoV-D had received the regulator’s approval for use in children from 12 to 18 years of age.
In an address to the nation late on Saturday, Modi also said that a “precautionary dose” would be administered to healthcare workers and those over 60 years with co-morbidities, from January 10.
“If you are above 60 years of age and have taken both doses and the gap between the second dose and the day you are registering is more than 9 months [39 weeks] then you are eligible,” Sharma said speaking about booster dose.
He did not say when those above 60 can register for their third dose.
Those who want booster dose will also have to get medical certificate as an evidence of co-morbidity, Sharma told News18. “We will follow the same list of co-morbidities that was released during the launch of vaccination drive for people between 45 to 59 years of age,” he added.
India has reported a sharp rise in Omicron cases, with the number reaching 578 overall across 19 states and Union Territories by Monday morning.
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