News Analysis India

Tag: COVID booster

  • Free Covid booster doses free for all adults from today till next 75 days

    By Agencies

    NEW DELHI: The Centre will provide free booster doses of Covid vaccines for the 18-59 age group at government vaccination centres under a 75-day special drive from July 15, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on July 13.

    The free booster dose drive will be held for the next 75 days as part of the government’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence and to boost the uptake of Covid precaution doses, he said.

    “Under the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi, a 75-day free vaccination campaign will be conducted from July 15, in which all citizens above the age of 18 years will be given free vaccination doses at government centres”, Mandaviya said in a tweet.

    Urging eligible population to get the precaution doses, he said in a subsequent tweet: “With this decision, India’s fight against Covid will be strengthened and additional security of citizens will also be ensured. I urge that all adult citizens must get the prevention dose.”

    Less than 1 per cent of the target population of 77 crore in the 18-59 age group have been administered the precaution dose, as per a source. The initiative has been undertaken to increase the uptake of the precautions doses.

    However, around 26 per cent of the estimated 16 crore eligible population aged 60 and above as well as healthcare and frontline workers have received the booster dose.

    To accelerate the pace of vaccination and encourage booster shots, the government also initiated the second round of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0’ across states and UTs on June 1. The two-month programme is currently underway.

    ALSO READ | Har Ghar Dastak: 9 lakh houses visited in Delhi, only 1.75 lakh say yes to Covid booster shots

    According to government data, 96 per cent of India’s population has been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine, while 87 per cent of people have taken both doses.

    On April 10 this year, India began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all aged above 18 years.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with health care workers getting inoculated in the first phase.

    Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2 last year.

    On March 1 last year, COVID-19 vaccination began for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.

    Vaccination for all people aged above 45 years began on April 1 last year.

    The government then decided to expand the ambit of the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years to be inoculated against Covid from May 1 last year.

    Inoculation of those in the age group of 15-18 started on January 3 this year.

    The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 on March 16.

    READ HERE | Covaxin booster dose generates 25-fold rise in antibodies: ICMR study

    (Register for precaution dose at cowin.gov.in or in the Aarogya Setu app, go to the Cowin tab, and tap on the vaccination tab.)

    (With PTI and IANS inputs)

    NEW DELHI: The Centre will provide free booster doses of Covid vaccines for the 18-59 age group at government vaccination centres under a 75-day special drive from July 15, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on July 13.

    The free booster dose drive will be held for the next 75 days as part of the government’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s Independence and to boost the uptake of Covid precaution doses, he said.

    “Under the Amrit Mahotsav of Azadi, a 75-day free vaccination campaign will be conducted from July 15, in which all citizens above the age of 18 years will be given free vaccination doses at government centres”, Mandaviya said in a tweet.

    Urging eligible population to get the precaution doses, he said in a subsequent tweet: “With this decision, India’s fight against Covid will be strengthened and additional security of citizens will also be ensured. I urge that all adult citizens must get the prevention dose.”

    Less than 1 per cent of the target population of 77 crore in the 18-59 age group have been administered the precaution dose, as per a source. The initiative has been undertaken to increase the uptake of the precautions doses.

    However, around 26 per cent of the estimated 16 crore eligible population aged 60 and above as well as healthcare and frontline workers have received the booster dose.

    To accelerate the pace of vaccination and encourage booster shots, the government also initiated the second round of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0’ across states and UTs on June 1. The two-month programme is currently underway.

    ALSO READ | Har Ghar Dastak: 9 lakh houses visited in Delhi, only 1.75 lakh say yes to Covid booster shots

    According to government data, 96 per cent of India’s population has been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine, while 87 per cent of people have taken both doses.

    On April 10 this year, India began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all aged above 18 years.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with health care workers getting inoculated in the first phase.

    Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2 last year.

    On March 1 last year, COVID-19 vaccination began for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions.

    Vaccination for all people aged above 45 years began on April 1 last year.

    The government then decided to expand the ambit of the vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years to be inoculated against Covid from May 1 last year.

    Inoculation of those in the age group of 15-18 started on January 3 this year.

    The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 on March 16.

    READ HERE | Covaxin booster dose generates 25-fold rise in antibodies: ICMR study

    (Register for precaution dose at cowin.gov.in or in the Aarogya Setu app, go to the Cowin tab, and tap on the vaccination tab.)

    (With PTI and IANS inputs)

  • NTAGI members agree on reducing Covid booster dose gap to six months; discuss monkeypox

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Members of the government advisory panel NTAGI on Thursday agreed on reducing the gap between the second and precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the current nine to six months, official sources said.

    A recommendation for it will be made to the Health Ministry soon, they said.

    The NTAGI’s Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC), which met on Thursday, also reviewed the findings of a study by the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore on the feasibility of allowing as a precaution dose a Covid vaccine different from the one used for primary vaccination.

    The panel members found a lack of uniformity in results upon mixing of jabs for booster shots and stated that no recommendation for it can be made as of now.

    The CMC study was on Covishield and Covaxin.

    The threat of monkeypox and the requirement of vaccination were also discussed in the meeting, the sources said.

    “However, the members were of the view that a strong surveillance is what is required as of now. No case of monkeypox has been detected in the country till now,” one of the sources told PTI.

    The panel also reviewed data on Covaxin and Corbevax vaccines for the 6-12 age group.

    “The members opined that data of Covid burden and mortality among children is not robust enough to take any decision to begin vaccination of those below 12 years,” the source stated.

    India’s drug regulator in April this year had granted emergency use authorisation for Biological E’s COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax for those aged five to 12 years and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children in the age group of six to 12 years.

    The STSC members were learnt to have also agreed on the administration of an additional third dose for renal transplant patients before the precaution dose.

    “In the meeting today, members also agreed on reducing the gap between the second and the precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the current nine months to six months,” the source told PTI.

    Currently, all those above the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose are eligible for the precaution dose.

    The Union government last month allowed citizens and students travelling overseas to get the shot before the stipulated nine-month waiting period as required by the guidelines of the destination country.

  • COVID-19 booster dose is not central theme as of now: ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday said COVID-19 booster shot is not the central theme in scientific discussion as well as in the public health domain at the moment and getting the two doses remain the main priority.

    Responding to a question at a press briefing, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said administering both the doses is absolutely essential and there should be no breakage in that. “We need to remember one thing very clearly that booster dose is not the central theme at the moment in the scientific discussion as well as in the public health domain. Getting the two doses remains the major priority,” Bhargava said.

    “Several agencies have recommended that antibody levels should not be measured…but the important understanding is that full vaccination of both the doses is absolutely essential and there should be no breakage in that,” he said.

    ALSO READ| ‘Provocative, attention seeking’: Centre condemns recent New York Times article on COVID response

    Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 20 per cent of India’s adult population have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine and 62 per cent have got at least one dose. Also, 99 per cent of the healthcare workers have received the first dose while 82 per cent of the eligible healthcare workers have taken the second dose.

    Bhushan further said that 100 per cent of the frontline workers have been administered the first dose while 78 per cent of them have been given the second dose. So far, all adult people in five states and union territories — Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep — have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

    ALSO READ| Kerala logs 68 per cent of total COVID-19 cases reported in India: Union Health Ministry

    According to data, the average daily doses administered in a month has increased from 19.69 lakh in May to 39.89 lakh in June, then further to 43.41 lakh in July and to 59.19 lakh in August. The average daily vaccination in the first 15 days of September has been 74.40 lakh per day, Bhushan said.