Covid booster dose drive rolled out free in the Northeast

Today the special vaccination drive was inaugurated in Guwahati by Assam health minister Keshav Mahanta. The move has also been made keeping mind the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. 

The minister inaugurated the vaccine drive at the primary health care centre in Guwahati’s Azara. 

Meanwhile, in Manipur, Chief minister N Biren Singh launched the Manipur leg of the COVID Vaccine Amrit Mahotsav “Jan Abhiyaan”. He was accompanied by Ministers – S Ranjan Singh and L Sushindro Meitei. 

From today onwards, free Covid booster doses are being provided to persons above the age of 18. The special drive is being carried out by the government all over the country for a period of 75 days.

Any person between the age of 18 and 59 can get themselves vaccinated with the booster does for free at any government hospital of clinic.

In a virtual meeting with State/UT Health Secretaries and NHM MDs chaired by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday, States and UTs have been urged to give an intensive and ambitious push toward full COVID19 vaccination coverage by vaccinating all eligible beneficiaries and covering them with precaution dose. 

The Union Health Secretary highlighted that less percentage of precaution doses uptake among population groups aged 18 years and above (8 per cent) and persons aged 60 years and above (27 per cent) is a cause of concern.

The Centre has announced a special drive ‘COVID Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava’ to be launched to provide free precaution doses at all Government Covid Vaccination Centres for persons aged 18 years and above for 75 days from July 15 to September 30, 2022.