Precaution doses for Indians int'l travellers as per destination country rules

New Delhi, May 12: India on Thursday relaxed the waiting period for Covid-19 vaccine precaution dose for those travelling abroad, allowing them to get the jab before the stipulated nine months, as per the rules of their destination country.

"Indian citizens & students travelling overseas can now take the precaution dose as required by the guidelines of the destination country," said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in a tweet on Thursday. He also said that the new facility will be available soon on the CoWIN portal.

The decision to relax the guidelines for the Covid precaution dose for overseas travellers was taken on the recommendations made by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

The NTAGI, in its recent meeting, had recommended the precaution doses of Covid vaccines be administered before 9 months for those who are travelling abroad as per the receiving country's needs. At present, there is a nine month gap for the administration of precaution doses after the second dose.

India began administering precaution doses of vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers and 60 plus population from January 10 this year. All those above 18 years of age were allowed to get the precaution doses after the completion of 9 months of their second doses from April 10 onwards.

Meanwhile, as of Thursday morning, India's Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 190.83 crore which has been achieved via 2,38,04,573 sessions. Over 3.10 crore adolescents have also been administered with a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccination drive for this age bracket.