Meet the first minor to be vaccinated in Cachar: "Will take my second dose timely" he urges to actively participate in vaccination

India has started administering COVID-19 Vaccines to children in the age group of 15-18 from the 3rd of January this year. The Union Health Ministry has announced that, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will be the only vaccine that will be administered to the eligible recipients in the age group of 15-18 years.The decision to Inoculate vaccines to minors and a precautionary dose to vulnerable group comes after the recent global surge of Coronavirus infections, detection of the new Omicron variant of the virus, scientific evidence, global practices and following the inputs from different Scientific Committees and Standing Committees on COVID-19 and the vaccination drive of the government.

Since the time of this announcement, there was a lot of anxiety among the general public. The parents were anxious, the kids themselves were anxious and the anxiety was evident in Cachar district too. Barak Bulletin, in it’s new segment, “Barak Bulletin Talks” talked with Arijit Barbhuiya, of Narasingh Higher Secondary School, a student of HS First Year, the first minor to be vaccinated in the Cachar district.

Here are the Edited Excerpts:
BB: My first question to you is- how does it feel like to be the first minor to be vaccinated from Cachar?

Arijit: It really feels great to be the “first minor” In the district to be vaccinated. It was not expected and now that I’m vaccinated, and that at the first place, I feel lucky. I’m glad that, the government has started the vaccination drive for the minors so that our studies doesn’t get hampered in any way.

BB: How many days has it been since you got vaccinated? Did you encounter any problem after getting vaccinated?

Arijit: It has been two weeks since I got jabbed, it was on 3rd January. So far I’ve not encountered any problem. There was a local pain in the area where the vaccine was given, other than that I didn’t have any side-effects or issues.

BB:How did your parents react when they got to know that you will be vaccinated?

Arijit: My parents were very happy and felt secured that I was getting vaccinated. They didn’t hesitate or were scared, rather they were the ones who pushed me for this. They said, the sooner you get the jab, better it is.

BB: Did you know Dr. Rajdeep Roy will inoculate the jab? How was that experience?

Arijit: No, I didn’t know that before. It was really an important moment for me that the MP himself cum a renowned doctor was vaccinating me. I was kind of nervous at that moment, but overall it was a very good experience. I can never forget this day.

BB: You became the first minor, was it just that you rushed to the hot seat first, is there a story behind you becoming the first boy from Cachar?

Arijit: No there’s no such story behind it, when our Principal Sir came and told us to go for the vaccination, I happened to be the first one to volunteer for it. That’s exactly how I became the first minor in the district. It was very lucky day for me.

BB: Were you scared?

Arijit: Honestly, I thought I would be scared, but I was not. I mean, it’s just an injection and there was no pain or anything during the jab.

When is your second dose due, will you go and get the jab timely?

Arijit: It has been two weeks since I got vaccinated and my second dose is due 28 days from the first dose. So accordingly, my second date is due in the first week of February. Yes, of course I’ll get my second dose. That’s only how the vaccine is going to work effectively.

BB: Can you please tell our viewers and minors who are scared to get their jab to go get the vaccine soon?

Arijit: I took my first dose at the earliest and I have to say I feel much safer after that. I would request everyone who is watching this video to get vaccinated as soon as you can. The vaccine is the only way we can save ourselves. If your second dose is due go get it before the due date expires. There’s nothing to be scared of.

On 3rd January, the vaccination in Cachar district began with Narsingh Higher Secondary School, where the drive was Kickstarted by Cachar MP Dr. Rajdeep Roy. The students in the age group 15 to 18 were jabbed with their first dose. The first ten students to inoculate were vaccinated by the Member of Parliament, Cachar Dr. Rajdeep Roy. Along with Narsingh School, the vaccination drive started in different schools across the district. According to the estimates, there are 1,13,000 individuals between the 15-18-year-old age group and around 56,000 of them are estimated to sit for various examinations in the coming season.