What is ‘precaution dose’ for Covid? Which vaccine will be administered? What all we know
Senior citizens with comorbidities will require medical certificate for the precautionary dose. There will be an addition vaccine certificate for this third dose, RS Sharma said.
From January 10, India will be administering the ‘precaution dose’ of the Covid vaccine to frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities. At a time when the world is seeing the 4th surge of the Covid pandemic, India's Omicron cases are also rising with states imposing restrictive measures. The idea of a booster dose to strengthen the immunity against the emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 has already been introduced in the world with several countries opting for it. However, India is not calling it a booster dose. As PM Modi made the major announcement on December 25, he called it precaution dose.
Here is what we know about the precaution dose
1. Dr RS Sharma, CEO of National Health Authority, said a comorbidity certificate will be required for senior citizens to get the precaution dose, news agency ANI reported.
2. The government is likely to use the same list of comorbidity that was followed when the vaccination drive started in India in January this year.
3. PM Modi in his speech on Saturday said the precaution dose will be administered to senior citizens after consulting with their doctors.
4. According to reports, the gap between the second dose and this third precaution dose is likely to be 9 to 12 months.
5. Which will be the vaccine for this precaution dose? Reports said these are the details that will be finalised in the next few days in consultation with the experts. The general opinion of health experts is that the third dose or the precaution dose should be different from the first two doses. But the government has not announced any mix and match policy yet.
6. A booster dose certificate will be given to beneficiaries, RS Sharma said.
The Indian Medical Association said if the government adopts a mix and match policy for the third dose, then the government should ensure the availability of Covaxin as the majority of people has taken Covishield in the first two doses.
Precaution dose, third dose, booster dose: What are all these
The aim of a third dose is to boost the immunity which is likely to wane 7-8 months after vaccination or previous infection. Some scientists have even pitched for an annual booster against the emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2. The World Health Organization is not very enthusiastic about booster doses, considering the global vaccination situation as many countries are far from reaching the 40% coverage target.
(With agency inputs)
