Under the nationwide covid-19 vaccination drive, the total coverage of precaution dose is around 15.66 crore with India’s cumulative COVID-19 vaccination coverage exceeding to over 212.17 crore doses. 

“The coverage of booster dose is very low despite making it free for all eligible individuals under the celebration of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at all the government vaccination centers. People should take the benefit of it and come forward to take their precaution dose. We are running special vaccination camps at bus stations, railway stations, airport, schools/colleges, routes of religious yatars and various workplaces etc,” said the first official. 

In the last 24 hours, 22,92,363 precaution doses were administered to all the eligible population. “States like Chandigarh (11%), Goa (11%), Haryana (10%), Jharkhand (9%), Meghalaya (8%), Nagaland (9%), Punjab (10%), Jammu & Kashmir (12%), Maharashtra (13%) report poor coverage,” said another official. 

Doctors say that precaution or booster or a third dose of a vaccine is important because it boosts the immunity in the body further by activating the memory cells to produce more antibodies against covid. It is of the same vaccine of the primary vaccination regime that is being given as booster dose to the eligible population who have completed 6 months from the date of administration of the 2nd dose. 

Recently, the government has allowed Biological E’s covid-19 vaccine–Corbevax as a heterologous precaution/booster dose for all adult individuals who are fully vaccinated either with Covishield or Covaxin.

First article