Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 38,417 students in the age group of 15-18 years took the vaccination against COVID-19 in Kerala on Monday as the drive commenced for children.

The students from Thiruvananthapuram district topped the list of those who took vaccines on Monday. About 9,338 students took vaccines from the southernmost district of the state. Kollam came second (6,868 students).

Malappuram district had the least number of students (519) who were vaccinated on Day-1.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Government is planning to administer 15.34 lakh doses of vaccines to this age group by January 10.

The State Government has set up 551 special vaccination centres to administer vaccines to children.

Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday urged school teachers and Parent Teachers Association (PTA) to take initiative to vaccinate children against the coronavirus.

The Minister urged the school authorities and the PTA to also create awareness on the virus among students and the parents.

Around 15.4 lakh students, including 12 lakh studying in government schools and in the age group of 15 to 18 years, would receive the vaccine, the Minister's office said in a press release. This includes students from CBSE, ICSE, ITI and polytechnic institutions.

"Everyday, the Education Department will collate the details of students who have been administered with the vaccine. The Minister will soon call a meeting of the other streams, including the CBSE and ICSE," the release said.

The vaccination for children is arranged at all General/District/Taluk/Community Health Centres till January 10 except

on Wednesdays, the release said.

Spot registration facility has also been arranged at the centres. Each educational institution is required to submit the list of those who have been vaccinated and those who are yet to get the shot to the respective District Education Officer (DEO).

A copy of each list should be sent to the respective Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) officer.

41 lakh children got Covid vaccine shots in India

Over 41 lakh children in the age group of 15 to 18 years received Covid vaccine doses till 8 pm.

The cumulative Covid vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 146.61 crore with more than 98 lakh shots being administered on Monday till 10.15 pm.

According to the Health Ministry, the daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late in the night.

"Well done Young India! Over 40 lakh between 15-18 age group received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine on the first day of vaccination drive for children, till 8 pm. This is another feather in the cap of India's vaccination drive," Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.

Over 53 lakh youngsters have registered on the CoWIN portal till 10.15 pm after the process began on January 1 for this category.

During the day, Mandaviya visited the Covid vaccination site for children at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and interacted with some of the beneficiaries.

"Visited RML Hospital and took stock of the vaccination campaign for children in the age group of 15-18 years. Interacted with the children and asked them to motivate their friends for the vaccine," he said in a tweet.

Co-WIN Chief and CEO of National Health Authority Dr R S Sharma said, "We have received a good response. Children are coming forward to get vaccinated and the numbers today itself are very significant."

Sharma said necessary provisions and changes have been made on the digital platform to include the new category of beneficiaries.

The health ministry in a tweet said, "Only Covaxin approved for less than 18 yrs. Eighteen plus (ie born in 2004 or before) are eligible for all vaccines, including Covishield. For 15-17 years (born in 2005, 2006, 2007) eligible only for Covaxin. Validations in place in Co-WIN."

The vaccine option for this age group is only Covaxin, according to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry on December 27.

The Drugs Controller General of India granted emergency use authorisation to indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for children above 12 years with certain conditions on December 24.

The registration for this category of beneficiaries opened on Saturday. According to the guidelines, they can self-register online through an existing account on CoWIN or can also register by creating a new account through a unique mobile number as is the case with all other categories of beneficiaries.

They can also get themselves registered onsite.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions. The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1. COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years commenced from January 3.