Chennai: Precautionary third doses of vaccines – announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month – will be given to health and frontline workers and immuno-compromised seniors starting today as Covid numbers spike in the country, driven by Omicron.
Personnel deployed in election duty in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa have also been designated as frontline workers.
In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said reminder SMSes have been sent to over one crore healthcare and frontline workers and senior citizens for their precaution dose.
According to sources, 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 precaution dose according to schedule. In Tamilnadu, four lakh will be given booster doses in the first phase.
Those eligible for booster shots will, however, get them only nine months after receiving the second dose of the Covid vaccine.
The third dose will be the same vaccine the people have received for their first and second doses. There will be no mix and match, the Centre has said.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 vaccination certificates issued in the five poll-bound states will not have Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo since the model code of conduct has come into force there, an official source said.