Got second Covid-19 vaccine dose 9 months ago? Be ready for 'precautionary' shot

Elderly with associated comorbidities are likely to be the first ones to receive the "precautionary" third dose starting from January 10, 2022, with the gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the third one likely to be nine to 12 months.

New Delhi: Elderly with associated comorbidities are likely to be the first ones to receive the "precautionary" third dose starting from January 10, 2022, with the gap between the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the third one likely to be nine to 12 months.

The gap between the second and the precautionary dose of the Covid vaccine is likely to be nine to 12 months with the immunisation division and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) discussing on these lines, sources said.

The time gap, according to sources, is based on studies carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) though the government is still working out the nitty-gritty for the vaccines currently being used in India's inoculation programme - Covishield and Covaxin.

Going by the nine-month time gap, the elderly who had their second Covid-19 vaccine shot before mid-April 2021 will be the first ones to receive the "precautionary" third dose.

The COWIN portal, sources said, would automatically reflect if one was eligible to receive the third dose.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a televised address to the nation on Saturday night, announced that vaccination against COVID-19 for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3, while "precaution dose" for healthcare and frontline workers would be administered from January 10.

The decisions came amid rising Covid cases linked to the Omicron variant of the virus.

Modi said the precaution dose will also be available for citizens above 60 years of age and with comorbidities on the advice of their doctor from January 10 next year as well.

The precaution dose denotes a third dose of the vaccine for the fully vaccinated but Modi refrained from using the term "booster dose", as it is generally called.

More than 61 per cent of India's adult population has received both doses of the vaccine.

Similarly, about 90 per cent of the adult population has received the first dose.

With the administration of 32,90,766 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 141.37 crore, as per provisional reports till 7 am.