The first precautionary dose of the Covid vaccine will be given to those above 60 years of age who received their second dose of the vaccine nine months before registering for the third. The process of registration will be exactly the same, Dr RS Sharma, CoWIN platform Chief told ANI.
This would mean that the first lot of recipients of the precautionary vaccine will be those who received their second shot by April this year, reports The Indian Express.
The decision to keep the interval between the second and third doses at nine months has been based on the findings of five scientific studies carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, top government sources who were part of the deliberations, told The Indian Express.
Sharma also said that children between the ages of 15 and 18 will be able to register on the CoWIN platform from January 1. For registering, children have been permitted to use their student ID cards in case they do not have Aadhaar or any other identity cards, CoWIN platform Chief Dr RS Sharma told ANI.
The announcement comes days after PM Modi’s Christmas night address, where he said that frontline workers as well as those above the age of 60 who have comorbidities will soon be eligible for a a third ‘precautionary’ or booster dose of the vaccine
