Guwahati, Dec 30 (PTI) The Assam government on Thursday announced that it will start vaccinating students in the 15-18 age group from January 3.

As per an official order, the exercise to vaccinate all the students in the age group of 15-18 will be completed by the first week of March.

Also Read | China Renames 15 Places of Arunachal Pradesh in Its Map.

"The vaccination drive will start from 3rd January 2022 and shall initially cover students within the age group of 15 years to 18 years," Education Department Principal Secretary B Kalyan Chakravarty said in the order.

The Inspectors of Schools of all districts were instructed to select at least 10 schools in smaller districts and 15-20 in bigger ones to start the vaccination drive on Monday.

Also Read | NEET-PG Counselling Protest: Resident Doctors in Maharashtra to Go on Strike from Tomorrow, Health Services Likely to Be Hit.

"The Additional Deputy Commissioners (i/c education) of the respective districts will supervise the conduct of the vaccination drive in a flawless manner in coordination with the Inspector of Schools," the order stated.

Besides, the Headmaster and Principals shall encourage the students to motivate their parents to take the second dose of the vaccine if not done earlier.

The Inspectors of Schools will also ensure that the students of private schools and venture schools are covered in this exercise, the order mentioned.

It further said that the Inspectors of Schools shall also collect the list of junior colleges, polytechnics, technical institutions in their respective districts for the vaccination drive.

According to the National Health Mission (NHM) data, a total of 3,73,82,577 doses of vaccines have been administered to people above 18 years in Assam. This includes 2,17,21,026 first doses and 1,56,61,551 second doses.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)