Rejecting media reports that the COVID-19 vaccination drive among children was derailed in the state, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Tuesday said the immunisation initiative was progressing well and a total of 57,025 doses have been given to those belonging to the 12-14 years of age group so far.
She termed as "totally baseless" a report that appeared in a section of media alleging only 751 children were given the jab even three weeks after the drive was launched for the category.
The drive is being done via the Centre's COWIN portal and a vaccination bulletin is published in this regard on the website of the state health department, she said in a statement.
"So, false propaganda against the vaccinaton drive should be stopped," George said.
The drive lacks the expected speed now as it is the time of school examinations in the southern state and it was already informed in the beginning that the pace of immunisation would be low in this period, she said.
A coordinated drive of Health and Education Departments would be conducted for children as soon as the examinations are over, the minister added.
Quoting figures, she also said a total of 79 per cent of children (12,10,093), aged between 15-17 years, were given the first dose and 47 per cent of the same age category (7,26,199) were given the second dose.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU