India starts administering COVID-19 booster shots: Step by step guide for beneficiaries

Reminder SMSes have been sent to over one crore healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens for their precaution dose, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet. (Representative image: AP)

In a bid to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection driven by its Omicron variant, India has started administering the precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers and comorbid people aged 60 and above from January 10.

Reminder SMSes have been sent to over one crore healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens for their precautionary dose against COVID-19, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet on January 9. An estimated 1.05 crore healthcare and 1.9 crore frontline workers, and 2.75 crore comorbid people in the 60 plus age group would be administered the precautionary dose according to schedule, reported news agency PTI citing Health Ministry sources.

In the run-up to the Assembly polls, personnel deployed for election duty in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa have also been designated as frontline workers.

Follow our LIVE blog for the latest updates of the Omicron varaint of coronavirus

As India gears up for inoculation of precautionary dose, here are the key things to know for beneficiaries:

- CoWin will send reminder messages to all those eligible for this dose and after administration of the shot, it will be noted in the digital vaccination certificate.

- Those aged 60 years and above with comorbidities will not be required to produce or submit any certificate from a doctor at the time of administration of the precautionary dose of vaccine.

- There is no need to register again for a precautionary dose. One can use the existing account to book an appointment for the third COVID-19 vaccine shot.

- The beneficiary’s dashboard on the CoWin portal contains the information about the type of beneficiary, like healthcare worker, frontline worker, etc.

- To book an appointment for a precautionary dose, eligible beneficiaries need to log on to the CoWin portal and schedule their appointment. For this, they need to go to their CoWin dashboard, check the due date, and click on schedule precautionary dose. Now, search for a vaccination centre either through PIN code or district, and based on the availability of slots, book an appointment. Subsequently, save the appointment slip.

- Online appointments for precautionary dose began on the CoWin portal on January 8. However, there is also the option of an onsite appointment and it begins on January 10.

- After vaccination, beneficiaries will receive certificates at vaccination centres. They can also download the certificate from beneficiary dashboards on the CoWin portal.

- There would be no mix-and-match of vaccines for the precautionary dose. The beneficiaries would be given the same vaccine as their previous two jabs.

- According to guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry, the gap between the date of administering the second dose of vaccine and the precautionary dose would be nine months (39 weeks).

The countrywide COVID-19 vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2. The next phase of inoculation commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specific comorbid conditions.

The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1. COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years commenced from January 3.