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Children between 15 and 18 can register for COVID-19 vaccines on the CoWIN app from January 1 using their school ID cards, the government said Monday morning.
CoWIN chief Dr RS Sharma told news agency ANI an additional slot had been created on the online platform so students could use their ID cards to register for the shots.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Saturday, had said children in the 15-18 age group could get their first round of Covid vaccines from January 3.
The PM, who also announced booster vaccines for frontline and healthcare workers, as well as those over 60, said vaccinating kids - something other countries have already done - will help schools and students return to normal.
Children in India will be vaccinated with one of two shots - either Bharat Biotech's double-dose Covaxin or Zydus Cadila's three-dose ZyCoV-D, both of which have been cleared for kids over 12.
The drug controller has cleared Serum Institute's Novavax for trials on kids between seven and 11 years of age, and Biological E's Corbevax has been cleared for trials on children over five. Neither Novavax nor Corbevax have been cleared for use as yet.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the citizens to be careful while engaging in festivities amid concerns over the Omicron outbreak. Nasal vaccine, the world's first DNA vaccine against Covid will soon start in India. He said that over 90 per cent of the eligible adult population got the first dose and over 61 per cent have got both doses of the Covid vaccine.