Amid looming threat of Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that India will start vaccinating children between the ages of 15 to 18 from January 3, 2022. While addressing the nation today, the prime minister also said that healthcare and frontline workers will be provided with “precautionary doses” from January 10 next year. He also added that people with comorbidities and above 60 years of age, will also be eligible to avail booster doses on the recommendation of their doctors from January 10.
The Prime Minister said the decision had been taken in consultation with scientists and experts.
“Coronavirus is not gone. We need to be alert and cautious. The world is talking about Omicron. Today is Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birthday and Christmas, so we decided to announce this step today,” PM Modi said.
PM also said India will soon get a nasal vaccine and world’s first DNA vaccine. Speaking about the measures taken by the central government to curb its spread, the Prime Minister said more than 141 crore doses have been administered in India so far with more than 90% eligible population already administered with the first dose of vaccine.
“Today, the nation has 18 lakh isolation beds, 5 lakh oxygen-supported beds, 1.4 lakh ICU beds, and 90,000 special beds for children. Today, we have over 3,000 functional PSA Oxygen plants and 4 lakh Oxygen cylinders have been provided to all states,”
He appealed to the people not to panic but be careful and alert. “Use masks and wash hands regularly,” he said. PM Modi assured the citizens that all possible preparations are in order to tackle increasing infections. The announcement came in the the backdrop of rising cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus across the country.
