'Precautionary dose' only applicable after 9 months of 2nd dose of COVID vaccine: Top doctor
Highlights
- Those above 60 suffering from co-morbidities will be applicable for 'precautionary' vaccine dose.
- Apart from them, healtcare workers will also be applicable for the dose.
- Cowin chief RS Sharma says that this dose will only be given after 9 months of 2nd dose of vaccine.
PM Modi had announced in a surprise address to the nation of a precautionary Covid-19 dose. Healthcare workers and those above the age of 60 and suffering from co-morbidities will be applicable for the 'precautionary dose' of coronavirus vaccines from January 10, the PM had said on Saturday.
However, according to Dr. R S Sharma, Chief Executive officer at National Health Authority, the dose will only be applicable to the subjects after 9 months of receiving the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Sharma, who also heads the functioning of the Cowin platform in an exclusive interview to ANI on Monday said that the third dose is only applicable after nine months of receiving the second COVID-19 vaccine shot.
"The process will be exactly the same. When you are more than 60 years of age and you have already been given two doses and if you want to register for the third dose, the gap between the second dose and the day you are registering or the day you are getting the third dose should be more than nine months which is 39 weeks," said Dr. Sharma.
Mandates for precautionary dose
The Cowin platform chief Dr. Sharma further explained the requirement of a comorbidity certificate from a registered physician is mandatory for the third shot. "When you are eligible and you register you will be asked whether you suffer from any of the comorbidities which have already been described in the earlier circular by the health ministry. If you say yes I do suffer from comorbidity then you can register and thereafter you can go to the vaccination center. You have to show your comorbidity certificate given by your registered physician to summarize your problem doctor and thereafter you will be able to get the job so there is nothing different. The rules related to registration are the same and rules related to vaccinations are the same."
On the expansion of other government-run healthcare programs like immunization and digitization, Dr. Sharma said, "So the platform will be redeployed, repurposed for universal immunization program, for managing the blood banking ecosystem and probably other programs also, which are similar to this kind of program where there are stakeholders, one is a provider and other is a seeker. And then you know, we want to have coverage, comprehensive coverage, so universal immunization program will be a very good candidate for COVID to be replicated."
Vaccines for children
Children aged 15 to 18 years, will be administered Covid vaccines from January 3, the PM had said during the December 25 address. Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is likely to be the only COVID-19 vaccine available, for now for children of this age group.
The decisions came amid rising Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant of the virus.
(With ANI Inputs)
