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 of India’s adults having received two vaccine shots 18-45 years 45-60 years

MINIMUM POPULATION ELIGIBLE FOR THIRD DOSES STARTING APRIL 10 60+ years