<p>Vaccination of children in the 15-18 age group against Covid-19 began on Monday as inoculation centres across the country started administering the shots to the younger population.</p>.<p>The process to vaccinate children has commenced amid a scare of a case spike due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.</p>.<p>In Delhi, where daily cases have registered a record surge in the past few days, vaccination centres at Fortis Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, among other major facilities, began administering the jabs to the younger population, officials said.</p>.<p>The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on December 27, 2021.</p>.<p>The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted emergency-use authorisation to indigenously developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years of age with certain conditions on December 24.</p>.<p>The Co-WIN platform had till Sunday evening recorded over six lakh registrations for the 15-18 age group.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/maharashtra-teenagers-queue-up-for-covaxin-jabs-on-day-1-of-drive-for-15-18-age-group-1067444.html" target="_blank">Maharashtra teenagers queue up for Covaxin jabs on Day 1 of drive for 15-18 age group</a></strong></p>.<p>Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has advised states and union territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queues and different vaccination teams for this age group to avoid the mix-up of vaccines.</p>.<p>The registration for this category of beneficiaries had opened Saturday.</p>.<p>According to the guidelines, they can self-register online through an existing account on Co-Win or can also register by creating a new account through a unique mobile number, as is the case with all other categories of beneficiaries.</p>.<p>According to official documents shared by sources, the cohort size for vaccination in this category in Delhi is 10 lakh, as per the Registrar General of India's figures.</p>.<p>Authorities at various hospitals in Delhi where vaccination centres were established since the start of the exercise on January 16 last year said that the infrastructure set up was ready to administer Covid-19 vaccine shots to children after catering to the adult population, including healthcare workers and frontline staff, who were given priority to be the first in line to receive the 'precautionary' jabs.</p>.<p>Doctors have urged parents to bring their children for vaccinations as soon as possible to lend them protection amid fears of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. </p>
<p>Vaccination of children in the 15-18 age group against Covid-19 began on Monday as inoculation centres across the country started administering the shots to the younger population.</p>.<p>The process to vaccinate children has commenced amid a scare of a case spike due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.</p>.<p>In Delhi, where daily cases have registered a record surge in the past few days, vaccination centres at Fortis Hospital and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, among other major facilities, began administering the jabs to the younger population, officials said.</p>.<p>The vaccine option for this age group would only be Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union health ministry on December 27, 2021.</p>.<p>The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) granted emergency-use authorisation to indigenously developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years of age with certain conditions on December 24.</p>.<p>The Co-WIN platform had till Sunday evening recorded over six lakh registrations for the 15-18 age group.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read — <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/west/maharashtra-teenagers-queue-up-for-covaxin-jabs-on-day-1-of-drive-for-15-18-age-group-1067444.html" target="_blank">Maharashtra teenagers queue up for Covaxin jabs on Day 1 of drive for 15-18 age group</a></strong></p>.<p>Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has advised states and union territories to provide separate vaccination centres, session sites, queues and different vaccination teams for this age group to avoid the mix-up of vaccines.</p>.<p>The registration for this category of beneficiaries had opened Saturday.</p>.<p>According to the guidelines, they can self-register online through an existing account on Co-Win or can also register by creating a new account through a unique mobile number, as is the case with all other categories of beneficiaries.</p>.<p>According to official documents shared by sources, the cohort size for vaccination in this category in Delhi is 10 lakh, as per the Registrar General of India's figures.</p>.<p>Authorities at various hospitals in Delhi where vaccination centres were established since the start of the exercise on January 16 last year said that the infrastructure set up was ready to administer Covid-19 vaccine shots to children after catering to the adult population, including healthcare workers and frontline staff, who were given priority to be the first in line to receive the 'precautionary' jabs.</p>.<p>Doctors have urged parents to bring their children for vaccinations as soon as possible to lend them protection amid fears of a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. </p>