Two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that children between the ages of 15-18 can soon avail COVID-19 vaccines, CoWin chief Dr Ram Sewak Sharma on Monday, 27 December, said that eligible children will be able to register on the app from 1 January.
Further, children will be able to register on the app using their student identity cards for the 10th grade.
"Children in the age group of 15-18 years will be able to register on the CoWin app from Jan 1. We've added an additional (10th) ID card for registration - the student ID card because some might not have Aadhaar or other identity cards," Dr RS Sharma told ANI.
'Those Above 60 Can Register 9 Months After 2nd Dose': CoWin Chief
Those who are aged 60 and above, and have comorbidities, can also avail a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine from 10 January, considering that nine months have passed since their second dose.
"The process will be exactly the same. If you are above 60 years of age and have taken both doses and the gap between the second dose and the day you are registering is more than 9 months (39 weeks) then you are eligible."Dr RS Sharma
"When you will register, it will ask whether you have any comorbidities or not. If you say yes, you will be able to book and have to show the comorbidities certificate from a registered doctor at the vaccination centre and then you can get jabs," he added.
In a late-night address to the nation on Saturday, 25 December, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared that children aged 15-18 can avail the COVID-19 vaccine, beginning 3 January.
Further, he had announced that healthcare and frontline workers, as well as those above 60 years of age and have comorbidities, would be able to avail the 'precaution dose' of the vaccine from 10 January.
The decisions come at a time when the country is witnessing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, amid the global spread of the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
India on Monday, 27 December, reported 6,531 cases. The number of Omicron cases reported in the country so far has risen to 528.
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