Health ministry cuts booster gap to 3 months for those travelling overseas
NEW DELHI: Indian citizens can take a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine as soon as three months after second doses if they are set to fly abroad, the government announced on Thursday, reducing the gap for the so-called precaution doses to allow international travellers to meet conditions imposed by several countries.
Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the CO-WIN platform will be tweaked to allow people to book the third doses under the new rules shortly, while government officials aware of the matter said no proof of travel will be required for those seeking the third dose.
“Indian citizens and students travelling overseas can now take the precaution dose as required by the guidelines of the destination country. This new facility will be available soon on the CO-WIN portal,” tweeted Mandaviya. The decision comes at a time when the uptake for the booster dose — all adults are eli
The decision comes at a time when the uptake for the booster dose has been slow, and there are fears that doses may be wasted
The reduced gap to be required between 2nd and 3rd doses if anyone is scheduled to fly abroad. This gap is 9 months for others
gible for it nine months after their second dose — has been slow, and there are fears that doses may be wasted.
“No list of countries is shortlisted (by the government); it will be available for all the countries, even if not required by a particular country,” said a senior official in the central government aware
New booster shots
of the matter, on condition of anonymity, adding that the mandatory gap will now be of only three months.
“No proofs [of travel] are required to book a slot on CO-WIN or at the Covid vaccination centres,” added the official.
Several countries require people to have taken booster doses
Seven-day average before they can arrive from abroad. Most of the European Union region sets the cut-off at nine months: that is, people must have taken a Covid-19 vaccine in the last 270 days to be allowed to arrive. In Israel, people will need to be boosted if their last shot was more than 180 days ago.