- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
INDIA on Monday (10) started administering ‘precaution doses’ to healthcare, frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities amid the surge in Covid-19 cases.
The government’s move was hailed by beneficiaries.
“I have got my precautionary booster dose. Everyone should get vaccinated. It is compulsory and it has no side effects. I have got covaxin,” Dharmendra Kumar Sharma, a beneficiary at RML hospital in New Delhi, told Asian News International.
ALSO READ: Omicron spreads to India’s big cities but hospitalisation low
Mahendra Pandey, another beneficiary at the same hospital, told the same outlet, “On March 30, I received my second dose of covaxin. Today I have got a booster dose. It is a good initiative of the government to give booster doses to the frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities especially at a time when there is a third wave of COVID.
Covid: India starts jabbing minors in 15-18 age group
“In such a situation, it will work as a shield to senior citizens and we welcome the government’s decison wholeheartedly. My mother-in-law and I came to take the booster dose and we both didn’t face any problem after the vaccination. It will provide immunity to us,” he said.
Kamla Joshi, another beneficiary, “Today I have received my booster dose. It is a great move. We welcome this move. I am above 80 years old and I didn’t face any problem after getting my dose.”
Dr Piyush Ranjan, a healthcare worker as well as a beneficiary at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in the Indian capital, said, “We all need to take vaccines so that the spread of infection decreases. I have got the Covishield vaccine. But anyone can take any vaccine. Both Covishield or Covaxin are equally effective. There are slight chances of getting a fever after vaccination. But it doesn’t mean that we get scared and do not take the vaccination. Frontline workers should take this dose as they are exposed constantly.”
Dr Promila Chaddha, an 84-year-old beneficiary at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, “The booster dose is a must for health workers. I have received the covidshield vaccine. I didn’t face any symptoms after taking the booster dose.”
The online registration for ‘precaution dose’ on the government’s CoWIN platform began on Friday (8). The precaution dose can only be taken after nine months, i.e., 39 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose.
In his address to the nation on December 25 last year, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said the precautionary doses of vaccine will be started for healthcare, frontline workers and citizens above 60 years with co-morbidities starting January 10.
