On Wednesday, the Telangana State government called on the Union Ministry of Health, Medical and Family Welfare (MOHFW) to permit Government hospitals to provide free precautionary/booster doses to the 18-59 age group.
In a letter written on Wednesday, State Health Minister, T Harish Rao urged the Union Health Minister, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, to acquire Covid booster vaccines for beneficiaries above the age of 18 years, which should be administered at Government Vaccination Centres in Telangana and across the country for free of charge.
With the name of precaution dose, the Union Ministry of Health has said all adults (18 years and older) can take the third dose of the Covid vaccine program only at private hospitals. The booster doses have already started at private hospitals for this age group on Sunday, April 10.
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Harish Rao stated in his letter: New Covid variants are emerging rapidly and it is better to receive a precautionary dose of the Covid vaccine. There is a need to provide free booster doses to people between the ages of 18 and 59. I request that the Union Minister for Health enable Government hospitals to begin administering booster doses as well.
27,401 people in the age range of 18-59 received their precautionary dose of Covid at private vaccination centres. Since 10th April, booster dose drives have been conducted across the country.
As per the health ministry, the precaution dose, also called a booster dose, is a homologous vaccination protocol, i.e., it is made of the same vaccine as that used in the 1st & 2nd doses. In total, 27,401 precautionary doses were administered to people over 18 years old, according to the government. 6,190 booster doses were given to the population between the ages of 18-and 44 years, and 21,211 booster doses were given to the population between 45-and 59 years old.
In India, 185.90 crore doses of vaccine have been administered so far in the ongoing vaccination campaign. Up until today, about 96% of all individuals older than 15 have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, while 83% of people in the same age group have received both doses.
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