DW BUREAU / Shimla Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday launched from Mandi the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in the state for the children in the age group of 15 to 18 years. The vaccination campaign was launched at the Government Vijay Senior Secondary School (Boys) in Mandi with plus-2 humanities student Ravi Kumar of the school becoming the first student to get the first dose of Covaxin. While interacting with media after launching the campaign from Mandi, Chief Minister Thakur appealed to the people to come forward for anti-Covid inoculation to protect themselves from the virus. About 3.57 lakh youngsters in the age group of 15-18 years are eligible for vaccination in the hill state, he added. Accompanied by his wife, Dr Sadhna Thakur, also the vice-chairperson of HP State Hospital Red Cross Section, the chief minister said that 4,259 educational institutions would be covered under this campaign. The educational institutions include 2,801 government ones, 1,402 private and 56 other institutions, he said. The state government is keeping an eye on both the Delta and Omicron variants of the coronavirus and all preventative measures have been taken to check their spread, he added. MLAs Anil Sharma, Rakesh Jamwal and Inder Singh Gandhi, Mandi Mayor Deepali Jaswal, Deputy Commissioner Arindam Chaudhary, SP Shalini Agnihotri and Chief Medical Officer Dr Devender Sharma were also present on the occasion. (editor@dailyworld.in)