by Ashis Sinha
# Elderly person who has completed both vaccine doses is only eligible for the booster dose of the vaccine. “The prioritization and sequencing of this precaution dose would be based on the completion of 9 months (39 weeks) from the date of administration of the second dose.
JNS: Amidst confusion over the precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine among health care workers and the elderly people who should receive the vaccine shot is being administrated at PHCs in the district.
All the elderly people of 60 years and above, including health care and frontline workers, are being administered booster doses, informed a district administrative official.
Meanwhile, all those above 60 are being administered the vaccine in some vaccination session sites. In others, only those who have crossed the age of 60 and are with comorbidities are being vaccinated, leaving the senior citizens unnecessarily stressed.
“A couple of days earlier, I went to take a booster dose at a PHC. After a long wait, when my turn came, the health staff denied administering the vaccine to me, asking for a doctor’s prescription. I am a cardiac patient,” said S Kumar, a senior citizen residing at Siwandih.
A district health department official said, the third and final dose, known as the “booster dose”, will be reminded to be taken by the eligible elderly people by SMS.
However, the Civil Surgeon of Bokaro, Dr. Jitendra Kumar said, “anyone above the age of 60 who has been vaccinated twice will be eligible for a booster dose of the vaccine.”
As per the guidelines, the elderly person who has completed both vaccine doses is only eligible for the booster dose of the vaccine. “The prioritization and sequencing of this precaution dose would be based on the completion of 9 months (39 weeks) from the date of administration of the second dose,” it said in the guidelines.
A health official said, “The government has recently abolished the necessity for older adults with comorbidities to get required certificates. At the time of administering a precautionary dose, “all patients aged 60 years and over with comorbidities will not be required to produce/submit any certificate from the doctor.”
However, it has been suggested that senior citizens with comorbidities must go for the precautionary dose only after the advice of the doctor, he said.
The government said earlier that senior citizens with comorbidities should produce a doctor’s certificate before receiving the precautionary dose.
