City gears up for Covid jabs to kids

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: The vaccination drive for children in the age group of 15 to 18 will kick off from Monday. The government is aiming to cover nearly 31.75 lakh children across the state.

Children born in and before 2007 will be eligible and they will be administered Covaxin jabs. They will be eligible for a second dose after 28 days.It is said that many parents from private schools are planning to go for private vaccination for their children as they are apprehensive of safety norms at government hospitals and primary health care centres.

According to the Sujath Khan, Procurement Head and heading vaccination drive, Ovum Hospitals, “The cost is as per the government’s norm we have maintained Rs 1,410 per dose. We are well prepared for the vaccination drive as we are a pediatric hospital and equipped with all emergencies. We are taking utmost precautions and aiming to ensure a hassle-free process. As of today, we have 60 online bookings, and it is likely to increase in coming days as we are taking spot registration too. This will ease the concerns of the parents. Also, we are carrying this vaccination across Bengaluru in our Ovum Group of Hospitals like Kalyan Nagar, Banashankari, Hennur Road, and Bengaluru rural Hoskote. We are targeting 200 doses at each center and we will also be reaching out to schools, colleges and apartment complexes.”

It is claimed that the Karnataka health department is also planning to vaccinate students. According to the reports, a target of 31.75 lakh beneficiaries of 15-18 age group across Karnataka and all DCs have conducted preliminary meetings with both the Health and Education department for coordination and implementation. It is claimed that the health department is planning to vaccinate six lakh plus children in 4,000 plus sessions with an existing stock of 16 lakh doses of Covaxin and all districts have geared up with micro plan, logistics, staff etc. Schools and colleges will be the venue for the jabs and they will provide support staff and space for vaccination.

Also, children who miss their vaccination on session days at schools or colleges will be directed to visit nearby health centres. Vaccination for the children with any comorbidity will be carried out in the health facility under the supervision of the Medical Officer.

The schools which are conducting online classes can fix a day for vaccination and children have to be called on that particular day to avail the vaccine dose.

Though the government is taking many measures, people are turning to private centers, Commenting on it, Akshay Oleti, VP and Cluster Head, Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Bengaluru said, “Since last year, the hospital has vaccinated more than a million people in the city. Given our two decades of experience in vaccinating children safely through our experienced team, we are embarking on a mass vaccination drive across the City starting from today. The objective is to cover schools, colleges and apartment complexes in the quickest time possible. Our expert pediatricians will support the vaccination team and review the program intricately. In our 3 hospitals located in Bangalore, we are providing over 1,200 vaccine doses every day and jointly covering over 250 schools and 600 apartment complexes for on-site vaccinations.”

It is also said that private hospitals have not got any notification on booster dose for healthcare workers. If there is a notification then they will do the needful as per guidelines.

The Government also plans to reach out to the school dropouts and they will be provided the jabs at government hospitals. It will seek the support of the labour department, RDPR and Urban Development department to trace them.

District and taluk level officers will have to ensure the quality of implementation. The government has told the district administrations to create awareness regarding Covid vaccination for children and address hesitancy and other issues.