Amid rising COVID-19 cases, India to begin administering 'precaution dose' from today

New Delhi: Amid a spike in the daily number of COVID-19 cases, India will begin administering the 'precaution dose' of vaccine to healthcare, frontline workers and those above 60 years on Monday (January 10, 2022).

An estimated 1.05 crore healthcare and 1.9 crore frontline workers, and 2.75 crore comorbid people in the 60 plus age group would be administered the precaution dose. Personnel deployed for election duty in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa will also be eligible for the booster dose as they have been designated as frontline workers.

The online registration for precaution dose on the Co-WIN platform has already started on January 8. All HCWs, FLWs and citizens aged 60 years or above with comorbidities will be able to access the vaccination for precaution dose through their existing Co-WIN account. 

Appointments for precautionary dosage for citizens above 60 years with comorbidities is now LIVE on https://t.co/VGINpCZNDU! Book your appointment today & strengthen India's fight against COVID-19! #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/dQuc56T8PN — MyGovIndia (@mygovindia) January 9, 2022

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, in a tweet on Sunday, said that reminder SMSes have already been sent to over one crore healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens for their precaution dose.

देश सुरक्षित करने वाली हेल्थ आर्मी की सुरक्षा सरकार कर रही सुनिश्चित।

क़रीब 1 करोड़ से अधिक हेल्थ व फ़्रंटलाइन वर्कर्स तथा 60+ नागरिकों को उनकी #PrecautionDose हेतु रिमाइंडर SMS भेजे गये है। COWIN पर अपॉइंटमेंट पहले से शुरू है। कल से डोज लगाने का कार्यक्रम शुरू किया जा रहा है। — Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) January 9, 2022

This is noteworthy that the precaution dose can only be taken after 9 months, ie, 39 weeks from the date of administration of 2nd dose of the coronavirus vaccine. 

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has recommended that precaution dose for healthcare workers, frontline workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities will be the same as given previously. 

It had also informed that the senior citizens with co-morbidities will not be required to produce a doctor's certificate or prescription at the time of administration of the precaution dose.

According to the Health Ministry, private hospitals that function as COVID-19 Vaccination Centres can inoculate their eligible staff members.

Meanwhile, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 151.57 crore, as per provisional reports till 7 am on Sunday.

#Unite2FightCorona#LargestVaccineDrive

 India’s Cumulative #COVID19 Vaccination Coverage exceeds 151.57 Cr (1,51,57,60,645).

 More than 89 lakh Vaccine Doses administered in the last 24 hours.https://t.co/PWWzoHSN5C pic.twitter.com/uhTiDrBSAp — Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 9, 2022

PM Narendra Modi reviews COVID-19 situation

As the number of COVID-19 cases rises across India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a high-level meeting to assess the pandemic situation in the country, ongoing preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, status of the vaccination campaign and the emergence of a new variant Omicron and its public health implications for the country.

PM Modi stressed the need to ensure adequate health infrastructure at the district level and asked officials to maintain coordination regarding this with the states.

After a detailed discussion, the Prime Minister directed that intensive containment and active surveillance should continue in clusters reporting higher cases and required technical support be provided to states which are reporting higher cases presently. 

He also highlighted the need to ensure effective usage of masks and physical distancing measures as a new normal to control the spread and further exhorted the need for effective implementation of home isolation for mild/asymptomatic cases and to disseminate the factual information to the community at large.

Had extensive discussions on the prevailing COVID-19 situation. Reviewed the preparedness of healthcare infrastructure, the vaccination drive, including for youngsters between 15 and 18, and ensuring continuation on non-COVID healthcare services. https://t.co/2dh8VFMStK — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2022

PM said that a meeting with CMs be convened to discuss state-specific scenarios, best practices and the public health response. He further highlighted the need to ensure continuity of non-COVID health services while managing coronavirus cases presently. 

PM also spoke about the importance of continuous scientific research in testing, vaccines and pharmacological interventions including genome sequencing given that the virus is evolving continuously.

A detailed presentation highlighting the surge in cases currently being reported globally was given by Secretary Health. This was followed by the status of COVID-19 in India highlighting various States and Districts of concern, based on the surge in cases and high positivity being reported. Further, various efforts taken by the Central Government so far in terms of supporting States to manage the upcoming challenge were highlighted. Various predictive scenarios of peak cases were also presented.

The support to the States to upgrade health infrastructure, testing capacity, availability of oxygen & ICU beds, and buffer stock of COVID-19 essential drugs under Emergency Covid Response Package (ECRP-II) was presented. 

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