In the midst of the significant downfall of the Covid cases, India is gearing up to roll out the vaccination drive for children between 12 to 14 years of age along with the boosters for people above 60. The Union government has on Monday - March 14 announced that the vaccination of children between 12 to 14 will begin from March 16. 

In its official announcement, it has said that Corbevax, produced by Biological E, will be inoculated for the children in this age category. In a press release, it has said, "Union government after due deliberations with scientific bodies has decided to start Covid19 vaccination for 12-13 yr and 13-14 yr age groups of the population from 16th March 2022. The Covid19 vaccine to be administered would be Corbevax, manufactured by Biological Evans, Hyderabad." 

Along with that, the government has removed the comorbidity clause that was attached for those above 60 who wanted to receive a booster/prevention dose. It has been reported that from March 16, anyone above the age of 60 can receive Covid booster doses. India has begun its vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, with an initial target of vaccinating three crore healthcare workers. 

The vaccination of frontline workers had begun on February 2, 2021, and the next phase of the drive started on March 1 last year with the target of vaccinating people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 with specific comorbidities. On April 1 last year, India has rolled out the vaccination drive for all people more than 45 years of age and on May 1, it has begun vaccinating the country's largest section of the population - people above 18 years of age. 

On January 3, 2022, India has begun vaccinating adults in the age group of 15-18 years. As per the data, India has administered over 180 crore vaccine doses and 81 crore people had been fully vaccinated, which is about 59% of the country's total population. Meanwhile, India has recorded a sharp downfall in fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours with 2,503 new infections, the lowest since May 2020.