Posted On: 2022-04-26 16:12:12
India has successfully administered more than 1 billion doses of COVID 19 vaccines since the start of the vaccination program. With newly emerging COVID 19 variants every few months, booster doses are being introduced around the world. India too has started executing the booster plan and has recently proceeded with providing booster doses.
What is the booster dose?
A COVID 19 booster shot is an additional dose of vaccine given after the necessary shots. The booster aids in the maintenance of good protection against severe coronavirus infection.
The main concept behind booster shots is that a person's immunity deteriorates over time, and boosters act as a sort of immune system refresher.
Why is it necessary?
The global effect of the COVID 19 pandemic has been extraordinary, and so is the pace with which vaccines for COVID 19 have been developed and tested. The duration of this vaccine-induced immunity is uncertain. This prompts the necessity for "booster" vaccination doses in the hopes of boosting protection against COVID 19 infection.
Fears of waning immunity and the emergence of variants of concern (VOC) have raised the need for a precautionary or booster dose.
When to take the booster dose?
According to the official announcement from the government of India, the precautionary dosage of the vaccine against the new coronavirus is available nine months after the second dose.
If a person is 18 years or above, they are eligible to take the precautionary dose of vaccine against coronavirus.
Availability of the shot
From April 10, 2022, the government has enabled all adults to receive booster doses of the Covid 19 vaccine. The dose will be available at private centers in India.
The ongoing free vaccination programme through government vaccination centers for the first and second dose to the eligible population as well as precaution dose to healthcare workers, frontline workers and the 60+ population would continue and would be accelerated, said the health ministry of India.
Registering for the Booster shot
Covid Vaccine Booster Dose Registration can be done online at cowin.gov.in
Here is how to register yourself for the precautionary shot online:
Open cowin.gov.in or in the Aarogya Setu app, go to the Cowin tab, and tap on the vaccination tab.
Log in with the mobile number, which you have used for previous registration. If someone else registered on your behalf, please ask them for a One Time Password (OTP) when using that particular mobile number.
For those who are fully vaccinated and eligible for precaution dose, the system will show the slots for Precaution Dose in the Appointments Module.
Tap on the ‘Precaution dose’ tab and then choose appointments.
Choose the appointment based on your location, Pincode, etc and tap/click on Book appointment.
The appointment should get confirmed and details can be downloaded from the app.
Cost of booster shot
Serum Institute of India (SII) at first said the booster dose of Covishield will cost ?600 plus taxes in the market, whereas the hospitals will receive it at a lesser price. After a few meetings and reconsiderations of the prices, the SII revised the price to ? 225 per dose.
Walk-in vaccination:
Eligible citizens can avail of walk-in vaccination, wherein private vaccination centers can add beneficiaries onsite to an ongoing vaccination session for precaution dose. For this, the PCVC (private Covid vaccination center) team can locate the existing vaccination record of the citizen by searching on the mobile number, beneficiary reference ID, or the details of the Identity Document used at the time of earlier vaccinations stated the Health Ministry.
Concluding it..
With new variants of concern emerging and waning immunity from the two Covid 19 vaccines, a precautionary dose is needed according to the experts. Hence, the government of India announced that the booster dose will be available for 18+ individuals. These individuals are eligible for the booster shot after completing nine months from their second dose.
It is always wise to take all the necessary precautions in order to prevent any mishappening. In this case, it could be another wave of a new Covid 19 variant. Therefore, let us be wise and take the booster or the precautionary shot.
Author: Anjali Patel
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