Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 10: The administering of booster or “precautionary dose” of Covid-19 vaccine to health and frontline workers, and people aged 60 and above with comorbidities in the country is set to begin on Monday, at a time when coronavirus infections in the country are on a steep upward trajectory.
The online registration for the ‘precaution dose’ on the Co-WIN platform began on Friday. This dose can only be taken after 9 months from the date of administration of 2nd dose.
According to the Health Ministry, an estimated 1.05 crore healthcare and 1.9 crore frontline workers, and 2.75 crore comorbid people in the 60 plus age group would be administered the precautionary dose in the coming days. There is no need to register for the precautionary vaccine shots, according to the health ministry. Those who qualify can make an appointment or simply stroll into any vaccination center. The third dosage will be the same vaccine that was given to the people for the first and second doses. This means that individuals who had the first two doses of Covaxin will receive the same treatment, and those who received Covishield will receive it as well. There will be no vaccine mix-and-match.
Vaccination for the prophylactic dosage will be available through the recipient’s current Co-WIN account. The date of administration of the second dose will be used to determine eligibility for the precautionary dose, which will be logged in the Co-WIN system, which will send an SMS when the third dose is due.
For qualifying for the preventive dose of Covid-19 vaccination, people over 60 years old with comorbidities do not need to upload or present a medical certificate. They must, however, talk with their doctors before receiving the vaccine.
Meanwhile, with the administration of 29,60,975 vaccine doses on Sunday, the cumulative Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 151.94 crore, according to data released by the Union Health Ministry