All 18+ can get booster doses from tomorrow
NEW DELHI: Adult citizens will be able to take their third shot of a Covid-19 vaccine from April 10 as long as their second shot was administered at least nine months earlier, the Union government announced on Friday but added that these will need to be paid for and will be available only at private centres.
Till now, India has allowed only people above the age of 60 or those in high-risk jobs to take their third doses – which the government refers to as precaution doses. Friday’s expansion comes at a time when there has been a widespread rollout of such booster doses across the world, with many countries making it a precondition for international arrivals.
“Adding an extra layer of safety! Precaution Dose to be available to 18+ age group from 10th April, 2022, at Private Vaccination Centres. All 18+ who have completed 9 months after administration of 2nd dose, would be eligible for Precaution Dose,” Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted after the announcement.
Third doses will continue to be free for the elderly and those in health care or frontline jobs at government centres and the rules that apply to them will also apply to the ones who become eligible on April 10. In other words, this means there needs to be a mandatory 9-month gap since the second dose and the third dose can only be of the same vaccine that was used for the first two.
A senior official in the health ministry denied that the decision was taken mostly from an international travel perspective. “It has got nothing to do with international travel as it is a very small category of people; we, on the other hand, opened it for the entire population. The logic does not hold,” said this person.
The European Union, one of the biggest destinations for leisure foreign travel during summer from India, is among regions that require people from other countries to have taken a dose in the last nine months.
Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of Serum Institute of India, which manufactures the Covishield vaccine, announced that the booster dose will cost Rs 600 (plus taxes) for those who get the shot at private centres.
“Looking at how a lot of countries are again witnessing virulent waves and with the emergence of new Covid variants, I think it is a step taken in the right direction at the right time. This announcement helps us target our demographic dividend — the workforce which powers India’s economic growth,” said Dr Bishnu Panigrahi, group head, medical strategy and operations, Fortis Healthcare.
He said all studies show the benefits of vaccination as this will prevent critical illness and hospitalisation. The New England Journal of Medicine articles have clearly shown the benefits of third dose. The precautionary dose will safeguard people above 18.