BMC plans to rope in paediatricians for vaccination drive of 6-12 years age group

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Paediatricians will play an important part in the COVID-19 vaccination drive for the 6-12 age group, said BMC officials. The civic body is planning to hold a meeting with city-based paediatricians to rope them in to help parents send their wards for vaccination. There are around 5-6 lakh beneficiaries from the age group in the city.

This comes after the Drugs Controller General of India on Tuesday gave restricted emergency use authorisation to BharatBiotech's Covaxin for children aged between 6 and 12 years and Corbevax for those aged between 5 and 12 years. As per sources, the vaccination drive for this age group may start next week.

A health department official said, "We already have the centres and the staff. As of now, DCGI has approved vaccines for emergency use. But we still need a nod and guidelines from the Centre."

Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, "We have around 5 to 6 lakh beneficiaries of the said age group. Paediatricians will play an important role in encouraging parents to bring their kids for vaccinations."

State vaccination officer Dr Sachin Desai said, "We have to see how many beneficiaries there are for this age group. We are yet to get a nod from the Centre for the drive. Once we get a go-ahead and guidelines, further steps will be taken."