Centre’s guidelines
9-MONTH GAP AFTER 2ND DOSE People will become eligible for their booster shot only if their second dose of the vaccine was taken at least nine months (39 weeks) earlier
BOOSTERS TO BE HOMOLOGOUS The third dose will be the same vaccine administered in the two doses — either SII’S Covishield or Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin
NOT A FREE SHOT
Private vaccination centres can charge up to ₹150 service charge on every dose over and above the price of the vaccine
NEW DELHI: The third shot of Covid-19 vaccines will need to be of the same make as the first two doses, the health ministry said on Saturday, a day after allowing private health facilities to administer the booster dose for those aged 18 and above from April 10.
Private vaccination centres will be allowed to charge a maximum of ₹150 per dose as service charge in addition to the cost of the vaccines, the ministry said.
The price of Covishield and Covaxin has been reduced to ₹225 at private facilities.
The health ministry on Saturday issued guidelines for private vaccinators for the administration of the precautionary or booster doses. They will be homologous, which means that if you have received the Covishield vaccine for your first and second doses, the third dose will also be of Covishield, and similarly for Covaxin.
The booster will be available to India’s 18-plus population
Online and
walk-in appointments
allowed after the completion of nine months, or 39 weeks, or 273 days from the date of receiving the second dose of the vaccine, the guidelines said on Saturday.
On Friday, the central government announced that the precautionary dose of Covid-19 vaccines will be available to everyone aged above 18 years at private vaccination centres from April 10. No fresh registration will be required for the booster shot as beneficiaries are already registered on the government’s Cowin portal, clarified health secretary Rajesh Bhushan, who held an orientation meeting of health secretaries of all states and union territories on Saturday. The private vaccination centres will allow both online and walk-in appointments, and all vaccinations will be recorded on the Cowin portal.
These doses will only be available at private centres from Sunday. Senior citizens, and health and front line workers will continue to receive their precautionary doses at government vaccination centres at no cost.