A child rights body has urged these four states to expedite COVID-19 vaccination of children

On January 7, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), India's apex child rights body, urged Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Punjab to accelerate vaccination of children against COVID-19 and wrote to chief secretaries of the respective states regarding the same. The child rights body wrote only to these four states because it had come across data that suggested that they have vaccinated only a low percentage of children, as per a report in ANI.

Sharing Co-WIN's data, the commission went on to highlight how in Punjab, only 1.3 per cent of vaccination was given to children and the percentages were 1.9 per cent, 2.0 per cent and 0.6 per cent in Meghalaya, Manipur and Nagaland respectively.

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"It has been 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 requests you to take immediate steps towards increasing the number of vaccinations for children in a speedy manner," the Commission said in a letter to States.

Priyank Kanoongo, NCPCR chief said, while speaking to ANI, that though there were children who took part in vaccination drive, in this category, a few states have performed quite poorly. "Till now, out of the total percentage, at least 22 per cent between the category of 15 to 17 had got vaccinated but the scenario is these four states is worrisome," she shared.

As per the Co-WIN app, 2,18,28,650 registration of 15 to 17 ages has been recorded and 22.7 per cent of children who fall between 15 to 18 years of age in India have had their first dose. Till date, total vaccination achieved is 2,00,91,496.