NCPCR asks 4 states to step up children's COVID-19 vaccination coverage

The apex child rights body NCPCR on Friday asked Punjab, Manipur, Nagaland and Meghalaya to take immediate steps to increase the rate of COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 15-17 years as the collective rate of inoculation of kids in these states remained below 1.45 per cent.

In a letter to chief secretaries of these four states, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) said these states have shown poor performance in providing vaccination to children.

''It has observed by the Commission that in comparison to other states and national data of vaccination of children, your state has not made enough efforts in providing vaccination to the most vulnerable population of our country which might be putting them on a huge risk of life.

"In this regard, the Commission request you to take immediate steps towards increasing number of vaccinations for children in a speedy manner,'' the letter stated.

The Covid vaccination (first dose) programme for children in the age group of 15 to 18 years started from January 3.

In a week's time, the NCPCR said approximately 22.7 per cent of children (15 to 18 years) has been vaccinated with the first dose of vaccine against the pandemic.

According to the data, COVID-19 vaccination coverage of children aged 15-17 years was recorded at 0.9 per cent in Nagaland, 1.3 per cent in Punjab, 1.9 per cent in Meghalaya and 2 per cent in Manipur.

PTI UZM SRY

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)