A healthcare worker administers a dose of the Covid-19 preventive vaccine to a student in the age group of 12 to 14 years at a vaccination centre. (Express photo by Amit Mehra) Students in the age group of 12 and 18 years who have not been vaccinated against Covid will not be allowed to attend in-person classes from May 4 onwards in Chandigarh, UT Adviser Dharam Pal decided after a meeting on Monday.
The meeting, which came in the light of a steady increase in Covid cases in the UT, was attended by senior officials of the administration who told the Adviser that more than 40,000 children in the age group of 12 to 18 years are yet to receive even their first dose against Covid.
Among those present during Monday’s meeting were UT Health Secretary, Yashpal Garg.
During the review, the Adviser observed that as per directions of the Central government, Covid vaccination for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years was started from January 3 this year and those for the children in the age group of 12 to 14 years, was started from March 16 this year.
The UT Health Department, in association with Chandigarh’s education department and the UT administration has arranged special camps in schools, in addition to vaccination going on at the health facilities. Apart from this, special vaccination camps are also being held on Saturdays and Sundays.
“It has been found that 92% of children in the age group of 15 to 18 years had taken their first dose and 54% had taken their second Covid shots. However, it was found that only 37% children in the age group of 12 and 14 years had taken their first dose and only 3% of them had been vaccinated with two doses,” an official said after the meeting.
As per data, in the last week, there has been an increase in the daily Covid positive cases in UT Chandigarh. While earlier the UT was witnessing just one or two cases of the virus, the same has now shot up to an average of around eight or nine cases per day.
“After a detailed review of the Covid vaccination status and after analysing the increasing trend of the positive cases, UT Adviser, Dharam Pal, has decided that in order to protect the unvaccinated children in the age group of 12 and 18 years from exposure to the virus, they will not be allowed to attend in-person classes in schools with effect from May 4 this year,” the order released by the UT administration later said.
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