COVID Booster Dose in India: Here’s all you need to know

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to healthcare and frontline workers in the country from 10th January, 2022. This has been done in the light of the amount of time the frontline workers and healthcare workers spend in the service of COVID patients.

The PM has also announced that option of precaution dose will be available for senior citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities on the advice of their doctors from 10th January, 2022.

He also said that vaccination will start for the children in the age group of 15-18 years from 3rd January 2022. The move is likely to aid in education normalization in schools and will reduce the worry of the parents with school going children.

The country is currently staring at a possible third wave of Covid-19 amid growing concerns over the spread of the new strain — Omicron.

In his message to the nation, the Prime Minister also urged people not to panic amid growing concerns over the Omicron variant, and appealed to everyone to stay alert, wash hands and make full use of masks.

Notably, the Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin on Saturday got approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use for the 12-18 age group.

The vaccine manufacturer had submitted data from clinical trials in the 12-18 age group for Covaxin (BBV152) to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Bharat Biotech had said earlier that the data was reviewed by the CDSCO and the Subject Experts Committee (SEC), which provided their positive recommendations.

Today, on Atal ji’s birth anniversary & on the occasion of Christmas I would like to announce that the children between 15-18 years will now get COVID-19 vaccines starting 3rd January 2022: PM @narendramodi

— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) December 25, 2021

Citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will also have the option of precaution dose of the vaccine on the advice of their doctor. This will also be available from 10 January, 2022: PM @narendramodi

— MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) December 25, 2021