The National Institute of Health (NIH) announced on Sunday that children in the age group of 5 to 11 years are now eligible to receive Covid-19 vaccines.
The NIH said that the government is set to launch a campaign to vaccinate children from September 19 (today) to September 24
According to the NIH, vaccines are available free of cost at all centres to protect children from coronavirus.
The guidelines issued by the institute on its official Twitter handle stated that both doses are necessary for effective protection against the virus. It stated that children should receive the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine 21 days after the first dose has been administered. The interval between the two doses should not exceed 56 days as recommended by the NIH.
Federal Health Minister Qadir Patel had in June announced that the government will begin vaccinating children between the ages of five and 11 against coronavirus “within a month or two”.
The decision to vaccinate children against coronavirus in Sindh was formally announced last month after a meeting of the provincial steering committee on Covid-19 vaccines headed by provincial Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho.
A statement issued after the meeting had said that Covid morbidity and mortality in the 5-11 year demographic had been identified in eight high prevalence districts, monitored from March 2020 to August 2022.
