New Delhi: Amid threat of third COVID wave in view rising cases of Omicron variant, the government of India on Saturday gave green light to the booster vaccine shots for healthcare and frontline workers. Addressing the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the administration of ‘precaution doses’ will start from January 10, 2022.
“We all have experience that those who are corona warriors– healthcare and frontline workers– play a huge contribution in keeping the country safe in this fight against the pandemic They still spends a lot of his time in the service of Corona patients. Therefore, from the point of view of precaution, the Government has decided that ‘Precaution Dose of Vaccine’ will be started for healthcare and frontline workers,” said PM Modi.
PM Modi also gave nod for administration of ‘precaution’ vaccine jabs to people with comorbidities and those above the age of 60, on the recommendation of their doctors. The Prime Minister said, “People with comorbidities and those above 60 years of age, on the recommendation of their doctors, will also be eligible for Precaution Doses of vaccine from January 10.”
The Prime Minister also announced that India will start vaccination of children between the age of 15 years to 18 years, against COVID-19 virus from January 3, 2022.
Earlier today, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has granted emergency use authorisation to indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for children above 12 years with certain conditions.
It is the second vaccine to receive the regulator’s nod for use among those below 18 years after Zydus Cadila’s needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D.
