Coronavirus Outbreak

India Starts Administration Of Booster Doses To Healthcare, Frontline Workers, Senior Citizens: 10 Things To Know

The third dose of COVID-19 vaccines or precaution dose is being given to healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens starting today

Published

3 years ago

on

No mix and match of vaccines is allowed for the third or precaution dose: Centre

New Delhi: The process of administering booster dose which is being called as ‘precautionary dose’ of COVID-19 vaccine in India began today (January 10) amid a surge in COVID cases, driven by the Omicron variant. As of 12pm, 1.59 lakh ‘precaution doses’ have been administered. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya took to social media this morning and tweeted, “Healthcare and frontline workers and people in the age group of 60+ to provide doctor consultation #PrecautionDose program is starting from today across the country. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi ji, the government is committed to providing additional security cover to healthcare and frontline workers on priority.”

Also Read: Over 150 Crore Covid Vaccine Doses Administered In India: Centre

In his address to the nation on December 25, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the rollout of ‘precaution dose’ of COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities.

Here are top 10 things to know about the booster dose:

  1. All healthcare workers, frontline workers and citizens aged 60 years or above with comorbidities will be able to access the vaccination for precaution dose through their existing Co-WIN account.
  2. Those above the age of 60 years who have co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension and other chronic ailments can take the ‘precaution dose’ on the advice of their doctor.
  3. Eligibility of such beneficiaries for the precaution dose will be based on the date of administration of the second dose as recorded in the Co-WIN system. Those eligible for booster shots will, however, need to have a gap of 9 months or 39 weeks between the second and third dose of the COVID vaccine.
  4. Co-WIN system will send SMS to such beneficiaries for availing the precaution dose when the dose becomes due. On Sunday night, Mr Mandaviya informed that over 1 crore eligible beneficiaries have been informed about their ‘precaution dose’ via SMS.
  5. Eligible beneficiaries can either book an appointment or walk-in to the vaccination centre for booster dose.
  6. The details of administration of the precaution dose will be suitably reflected in the vaccination certificates.
  7. The third dose will be of the same vaccine as people have received for their first and second doses. There will be no mix and match, the centre has said.
  8. This essentially means, individuals who have received two doses of Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccine will get a third dose of Covishield only. Those who got Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will get a third shot of the same.
  9. Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology, Indian Council of Medical Research (NIV-ICMR), Pune. “Third dose of Covaxin holds promise”, the ICMR said on Sunday, sharing a pre-print of the study which is yet to be peer-reviewed.
  10. India achieved the landmark of administering 150 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses on Friday (January 7). According to health ministry officials, over 91 per cent of the adult population has received at least one dose while over 66 per cent has been fully vaccinated.

Also Read: Over 90% Of India’s Eligible Population Has Received A Dose Of Covid Vaccine: PM Modi

COVID-19 Vaccination In India

India’s COVID vaccine drive, which according to the government is the world’s largest vaccination programme, was launched on January 16 last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the first phase of the drive, India aimed to inoculate 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers. The second phase of the vaccination drive began on March 1 with a focus on people over 60 and those above the age of 45 with comorbidities.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as of January 10, till 7am, over 1.03 crore healthcare workers, 1.83 crore frontline workers and 12.23 crore senior citizens have received the first dose of vaccine. As far as the second dose is concerned, it has been administered to 97.42 lakh healthcare workers, 1.69 crore frontline workers and 9.82 crore senior citizens.

Also Read: Sudarsan Pattnaik Creates Sand Art To Encourage People to Follow COVID Protocols, Get Vaccinated

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity,  that is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.

[corona_data_new]
Related Topics:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Exit mobile version