In an attempt to widen the coverage of vaccination among school students in Lucknow, the authorities have issued a new directive to the principals of all the schools in the city. As per the notice issued by the authorities on Monday, the school administration is now responsible for the vaccination drive that is set to take place on the school campus. Read on to know more about the vaccination drive of adolescents aged 15 to 17 in Lucknow.

Low turnout mandated this shift in responsibility

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F01%2FUntitled-design53.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Findiaaheadnews.com&s=161&h=896a0734ca987d0d18443c8c4086b4d80877fc4a98233d4c5c093d4ba1933e4b&size=980x&c=1233761646 photo_credit="" pin_description="" dam="0" site_id=20074994 caption="" photo_credit_src="https://indiaaheadnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Untitled-design53.jpg" crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2022%252F01%252FUntitled-design53.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Findiaaheadnews.com%26s%3D161%26h%3D896a0734ca987d0d18443c8c4086b4d80877fc4a98233d4c5c093d4ba1933e4b%26size%3D980x%26c%3D1233761646%22%7D" expand=1]

Notably, the inoculation drive of adolescents aged 15-17 was flagged off in the country on January 3. So far, this drive was handled by the health department in the city, however, the low turnout in the first few weeks had forced the authorities to make a change. With the new order effective from January 18, the administration of schools has now taken over the job of getting their students vaccinated as soon as possible.

1,44,409 adolescents vaccinated in Lucknow

[rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2Fnews%2Fnational%2Fcuido9%2Farticle38041416.ece%2FALTERNATES%2FLANDSCAPE_1200%2FCovaxin&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thehindu.com&s=804&h=e7f475cc3e502a8221c79241cd972ed17bef3f9bcb780ec258954b7610a490d5&size=980x&c=2424873864 photo_credit="" pin_description="" dam="0" site_id=20074994 caption="" photo_credit_src="https://www.thehindu.comnewsnational/cuido9/article38041416.ece/ALTERNATES/LANDSCAPE_1200/Covaxin" crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252Fnews%252Fnational%252Fcuido9%252Farticle38041416.ece%252FALTERNATES%252FLANDSCAPE_1200%252FCovaxin%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.thehindu.com%26s%3D804%26h%3De7f475cc3e502a8221c79241cd972ed17bef3f9bcb780ec258954b7610a490d5%26size%3D980x%26c%3D2424873864%22%7D" expand=1]

According to officials, this shift in responsibility was the need of the hour as the city was lagging way behind its target in this vaccination drive. While the aim was to administer 3,21,912 doses till January 15, only 1,44,409, students have taken the jab in the city, so far. As per the data available on CoWIN, 3,60,68,323 beneficiaries belonging to the age group of 15 to 17 have received the first dose against COVID in the country, as of January 18.