Senior citizens who took 2nd jab 9 months ago can walk in for booster dose from today

Kolkata: Bengal is all set to roll out booster doses for the healthcare, frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities from Monday. As per the guidelines laid down by the Centre, senior citizen who had received their second dose 9 months ago are eligible to get the third jab.

Both government and private hospitals will administer the booster dose on the eligible candidates from Monday while the urban primary health centers run by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) in 144 wards will also administer the third shots.

The way paramedical staffers have been infected with Covid has become a concern for the health department. A huge number of doctors, nurses and health workers both in government and private hospitals are down with Covid. Many of the paramedical staffers of the KMC are in isolation.

Eligible candidates can a prior appointment for vaccination date on Co-Win portal or people can also walk into any Covid vaccination centers. Senior citizens do not require producing comorbidity certificate to get the booster dose at the Centers.

To book an appointment, eligible citizens will have to visit the government portal- cowin.gov.in.

"For the senior citizens who will not be able to book an appointment on the Cowin portal online can visit their nearby vaccination centers with their vaccination certificates but nine months should have elapsed after the senior citizens took their second dose," said a senior health official.

The official also added that the precautionary vaccine dose that will be given to the people will be the same that had been given to them earlier. For example, Covaxin will be given to those who had received Covaxin previously and Covishield to those who had got Covishield. There will be no mix-up.

Various private hospitals have also opened on-site campus in their hospitals and off-site campus outside the hospital for immunization drive in the third phase.