3rd dose allowed for elders with comorbidity sans doc certificate
Govt says CoWIN will send reminder messages to all those eligible for precaution dose
NEW DELHI: People aged 60 years and above with co-morbidity will not be required to produce or submit any certificate from doctor at the time of administration of precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the Centre told states and Union Territories on Tuesday.
Such persons are expected to obtain the advice of their doctor before deciding to avail of the precaution dose or third dose. In a letter to states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said personnel to be deployed in election duty in the pollbound states will be included in the category of frontline workers. Eligibility of such beneficiaries for the precaution dose will be based on the date of administration of 2nd dose as recorded in the CoWIN system -- completion of nine months i.e. 39 weeks from the date of administration of second dose -- Bhushan said. He informed that CoWIN will send reminder messages to all those eligible for precaution dose, which will be reflected in digital vaccination certificates.
Bhushan chaired a workshop through video conference on Tuesday with all states and UTs to review the roll-out of vaccination for the age group 15-18 and precautionary third dose for vulnerable categories -healthcare workers (HCW), frontline workers (FLW) and those in the 60-plus age group with co-morbidity. With regards to the administration of the precautionary dose, the Union Health Secretary highlighted that nine months must have elapsed since the administration of the second dose to make the beneficiary eligible. Drawing attention to the misinformation being propagated through various media regarding the requirement of a doctor’s certificate to establish co-morbidity, he categorically emphasised that the Union government has not issued any directions on the matter and prescriptions/certificates are not mandated to be produced at the vaccination centre for administration of the precaution dose.