• Friday, March 29, 2024

Coronavirus

India’s frontline workers to get Covid booster jabs from January 10

Medical staff members pose next to a Rangoli design on the floor of the Ramaiah Hospital in Bengaluru in the southern Indian state of Karnataka on October 21, 2021, as they celebrate India administering its billionth Covid-19 vaccine dose. (Photo by MANJUNATH KIRAN/AFP via Getty Images)

By: Shubham Ghosh

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday (25) said the country will begin administering Covid-19 booster jabs as a precautionary measure to healthcare and other frontline workers from January 10. He made the announcement as cases of Omicron variant infection rose across India.

In a national address, Modi also added that those aged between 15 and 18 would receive Covid-19 vaccines from January 3 while those above 60 with comorbidities would be given booster doses after recommendations from doctors.

ALSO READ: Modi government to send teams to 10 Indian states showing high Omicron cases

“From the point of view of precaution, the government has decided that healthcare and frontline workers should start getting a precaution dose,” the prime minister said in his speech.

India's frontline workers to get Covid booster jabs from January 10
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi addresses the nation through video conferencing in New Delhi on December 25, 2021. (ANI Photo)

India has reported a steady rise in Omicron cases with the number touching 415 across 17 states.

Make health systems stronger, Modi tells states

The Modi government has been accelerating its vaccination drive, administering at least one dose to 88 per cent of the eligible 944 million adults. Sixty-one per cent have taken both doses.

While millions still to get their second jab, authorities will now begin offering booster shots to the healthcare and frontline workers who were hit by a deadly second wave of the virus last summer that killed several thousands.

Medical experts have warned that India needs to double down on its inoculation campaign and expand coverage to avoid another possible rise in new infections, particularly in the vast hinterlands where healthcare facilities are not adequate, Reuters reported.

Modi urged his fellow countrymen to wear masks and follow other Covid-19 protocols.

His government has also advised the states to impose restrictions against overcrowding on festive occasions in the last week of December and a few states have put a partial ban on celebrations.

Covid infections in India, however, have reduced by almost half from a month ago. In the past 24 hours, India reported 7,189 cases with an overall tally of 34.78 million which makes it the second-most affected country in the world after the United States (52.09 million).

In terms of deaths, India (479,682) trails only the US (816,533) and Brazil (618,686).

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