India's free COVID booster 75-day drive begins today

New Delhi, July 13: People in the 18-59 age group will get free precaution doses of the Covid vaccine at government vaccination centres under a 75-day special drive from Friday.

In a virtual meeting with State/UT Health Secretaries chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday, States and UTs were urged to give an intensive and ambitious push towards full COVID-19 vaccination coverage by vaccinating all eligible beneficiaries and covering them with precaution dose.

So far, less than 1 per cent of the target population of 77 crore in the 18-59 age group have been administered the precaution dose. However, around 26 per cent of the estimated 16 crore eligible population aged 60 and above as well as healthcare and frontline workers have received the booster dose.

States/UTs were urged to implement 'COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava' for 75 days as 'Jan Abhiyaan' with massive mass mobilization, through a camp approach. They were advised to organize special vaccination camps in the routes of Char Dham Yatra (Uttarakhand), Amarnath Yatra (Jammu &Kashmir), Kanwar Yatra (all States/UTs of North-India) as well as major 'Melas' and congregations. Union Health Secretary advised States/UTs to operationalise special workplace vaccination camps at big office complexes(public & private), industrial establishments, railway stations, inter-state bus stations, in schools and colleges, etc.

"A majority of the Indian population got their second dose over nine months ago. Studies at ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) and other international research institutions have suggested that antibody levels wane around six months after the primary vaccination with both doses... giving a booster increases the immune response," the news agency quoted an official as saying.

Gap between second COVID-19 jab and booster dose reduced from 9 To 6 months

The Union Health Ministry last week reduced the gap between the second and precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine for all beneficiaries from nine to six months. This followed a recommendation from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). To accelerate the pace of vaccination and encourage booster shots, the government initiated the second round of the 'Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0' across states and UTs on June 1. The two-month programme is currently underway.

The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2 last year.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified comorbid conditions. India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1 last year.

The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last year. The next phase of vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.

India began administering precaution doses of vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10.

The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause, making all people aged above 60 eligible for the precaution dose of the Covid vaccine.