Over four million youngsters in the 15 to 17 age group thronged the vaccination centres across the country on Monday for a vaccine shot, boosting the daily vaccine tally which is set to cross one crore again by the end of the day.
The highest number of youngsters, at nearly 7.5 lakh, turned up for the shots in Madhya Pradesh where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has fixed an ambitious target of January 20 for vaccinating all 48 lakh youngsters in the eligible age group.
Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, applauded the youngsters for coming out in large numbers for the jabs.
Well done Young India! ✌????Over 40 Lakhs between 15-18 age group received their first dose of #COVID19 vaccine on the 1st day of vaccination drive for children, till 8 PM.
This is another feather in the cap of India’s vaccination drive ????#SabkoVaccineMuftVaccine pic.twitter.com/eieDScNpR4
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) January 3, 2022
There are a total of 7.4 crore youngsters in the 15-17 age group in the country and nearly 50 lakh of them have so far registered for a vaccine shot, as per the CoWin portal. Many walked in at the vaccination centres for a shot without a prior registration too, showing enthusiasm for the exercise.
The 15-17 age category led the vaccination chart on Tuesday than other age-groups. Nearly 39.5 lakh youngsters had taken the shot till 6pm, out of the total 90 lakh-plus vaccinations done. After Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat led the chart with nearly 5.5 lakh vaccinations for the 15-17 age group, followed by Karnataka at nearly four lakh, Andhra Pradesh at 4.2 lakh vaccinations and Rajasthan at nearly 3.5 lakh vaccinations of youngsters.
Some big states, however, were seen lagging on Monday, like Uttar Pradesh clocked only 1.6 lakh jabs though it has eligible population of almost 1.4 crore youngsters in the 15-17 age bracket. Poll-bound UP has been directed to increase its vaccination coverage. Bihar, with nearly 83 lakh youngsters in the said age group, accounted for 1.6 lakh vaccinations on the opening day. Delhi, which has over 10 lakh youngsters aged between 15 and 17, saw only 21000-odd vaccinations in this age group on Monday.
The Madhya Pradesh government said in a statement that the CM has fixed a target of January 20 to give one vaccine shot to all eligible 48 lakh youngsters in the state. In MP, 8,667 centres were especially set up on Monday to vaccinate those in the 15-17 age group, and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself kicked off the drive from one school in Bhopal.
Chouhan said this 15-17 age vaccination exercise will enable the schools to open and the crucial class 10 and 12 exams to be held on time.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment