Precautionary third doses of vaccines, as declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month, will be provided to health and frontline workers, as well as immunocompromised elderly, beginning today, as Covid numbers rise across the country due to Omicron.
There is no need to register for the precautionary vaccine shots, according to the health ministry. Those who qualify can make an appointment or simply stroll into any vaccination centre. Booster doses for all adults have yet to be decided.
Aside from health and frontline workers, persons over the age of 60 with co-morbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic illnesses can get the “Precaution Dose” if their doctor recommends it.
Those who are eligible for booster doses will receive them 9 months after having the Covid vaccine’s second dose.
The third dosage will be the same vaccine that was given to the people for the first and second doses. The Centre has stated that there would be no mixing and matching.
This means that anyone who have already got two doses of the Covishield vaccination from Serum Institute will receive a third dose. Those who received Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will receive a third dose.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “precautionary dose” last month in response to ongoing calls for booster doses in light of the Omicron threat.
“Corona warriors, healthcare, and frontline workers have a huge contribution in keeping the country safe… Therefore, from the point of view of precaution, the government has decided that to start administering “Precaution Doses” for healthcare and frontline workers,” PM Modi had said on December 25.
However, many doctors and healthcare workers have already contracted the disease as a result of the Omicron-driven Covid outbreak – many of them for the second time. Infection among healthcare professionals has been especially frequent in urban areas.
“Covid vaccines, whether from India, Israel, the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, or China, are essentially disease-modifying. They don’t keep you from getting infected. The purpose of the preventive dose is to reduce the severity of illness, hospitalisation, and death “The Indian Council of Medical Research’s Director General, Dr. Balram Bhargava, has stated.
According to a study conducted in the United Kingdom, a third dosage of vaccine can provide up to 88 percent protection against hospitalisation caused by the Omicron strain.
