India to offer free booster dose for next 75 days, ages 18 and above

As part of centre’s Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the government has announced to administer free booster/ Precaution doses to all adults including people aged 18-59 years at government vaccination centres.

To date, less than 1 per cent of the population in the 18-59 age bracket has been given the booster dose, while on the other hand more than 25 per cent of the target population aged 60 and above as well as healthcare workers have received booster shots. As of now, the centre is administering precautionary doses free of cost to healthcare workers and those aged 60 and above, although some states have different rules in place as well.

The cause of concern here is that even after repeated warnings and seeing the repercussions of Covid in the past, majority of the people in the working age bracket have not learnt their lessons, as the booster dose has found hardly any takers and the current stock is nearing its expiry date.

Earlier last week the health ministry decreased the gap between second and booster doses from nine to six months. The precaution dose has been open for people of all ages from 10^th April onwards and to increase the uptake of precautionary shots, the centre has also launched the second phase of the ‘Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0’ which is already ongoing.

Mansukh Mandaviya, the union health minister said, “The decision will further strengthen India’s fight against Covid and add an extra layer of safety! I urge all those eligible to get their precaution dose at the earliest.”

The scare is far from over, as recently India has been witnessing a significant spike in the number of reported cases across states as the country recorded 20,139 new cases on Thursday, which was 19% more than Wednesday.