Nagaland to begin administering precautionary vaccine dose from January 10

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Jan. 8 (EMN): Nagaland will commence ‘precautionary dose’ or a third dose for fully vaccinated healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 60 years with comorbidities on Monday.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had earlier clarified that new registration for beneficiaries of precautionary dose is not required. Those from the categories, who have taken two doses of Covid-19 vaccine, can directly walk-in to any Covid vaccination centre (CVC) for the jab, it informed.

In a letter addressed to the chief medical officers, the state immunisation officer on Saturday stated that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) has recommended the administration of homologous vaccines for these categories (HCWs, FLWs and 60+ years with comorbidities). That is, the same vaccine that has been administered in the previous two doses would be given as the precaution dose to the eligible persons.

The private hospitals that function as CVC can vaccinate their staff at their hospital itself. They may provide the precaution dose to their staff who are eligible and due, free of cost or charge for it, the letter read.

The administration of precaution dose for eligible HCWs and FLWs of Armed Forces, Special Forces under Ministry of Home Affairs and Cabinet Secretariat may also be facilitated, as was done during their primary two dose vaccination, it added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had recently announced that the nation would begin administering precautionary doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to these groups of population from January 10, besides the announcement of Covid vaccination for 15 to 18 years of age, which had begun on January 3.