Covid vaccination: 21,000 kids have skipped second dose in Chandigarh

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[google-translator]

Even as all government and private schools in Chandigarh have resumed offline teaching, around 21,000 children, aged between 15 and 18, have skipped Covid vaccine’s second dose, rendering the first jab ineffective and slowing down the vaccination drive.

According to the data available with the UT health department, 20,842 children didn’t turn up for the second dose even after the due date, leaving them vulnerable to severe infection.

Apart from them, as many as 2,310 children, who are still eligible for the second dose within the recommended time gap, have also yet to take the shot.

As per the population projected by the central government, about 72,000 children in the age group are eligible for vaccination in Chandigarh.

Since January 3, the UT health department has vaccinated 59,680 (83%) children with at least the first dose of Covaxin and 30,894 (43%) are fully inoculated. These include children from migrant families and nearby cities.

UT had initially aimed to vaccinate the entire eligible population by January 26.

UT health services director Suman Singh said, “The response to the vaccination drive has been decreasing gradually. As vaccination is voluntary, we are not sure if we will be able to achieve the 100% target. But children should come forward, as no side effect has been reported in any child in Chandigarh post immunisation. On the other hand, not getting the second dose impacts children’s immunity against the virus.”

“In the third wave of the pandemic, which peaked in January this year, many children also got infected with the virus. Due to this, they became ineligible for vaccine for the next three months, which has also slowed down the vaccination drive. Besides, several parents are themselves hesitant to take the jab, so their children also remain unvaccinated,” said Yashpal Garg, health secretary, UT.

Panchkula has the highest proportion of fully vaccinated children. (HT)
Panchkula has the highest proportion of fully vaccinated children. (HT)

The vaccination drive is even slower in Mohali, where only 39% of the eligible children are fully vaccinated.

According to the health department, 50,870 children are eligible for vaccination. While 43,631 (85%) got the first dose of the vaccine, higher than Chandigarh, only 19,937 (39%) children have come forward for thesecond dose.

Dr Girish Dogra, nodal officer, Covid said, “Not many students are getting vaccinated these days due to ongoing exams. We are hopeful of achieving the first dose target by mid April.”

In Panchkula, the target population of children is 33,400, of which 78.4% (26,182) have got the first dose and 49.8% (13,029) have been completely vaccinated, highest in the tricity.

Notably, Panchkula was also the first in the tricity to complete 100% second dose vaccination among the adult population on January 14. On January 26, Chandigarh also achieved the target, but the tag has been evading Mohali, where only 94% of the eligible population has received both doses, as a sizeable number of people have not turned up for the second dose even after the due date.

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