The government announced on Thursday that Indian citizens can take a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine as soon as three months after the second doses if they plan to fly abroad, shortening the gap for the so-called precaution doses to allow international travellers to meet conditions imposed by several countries.
“Indian citizens and students travelling overseas can now take the precaution dose as required by the guidelines of the destination country. This new facility will be available soon on the CoWIN portal,” Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in a tweet.
Earlier this week, the advisory panel recommended that those who need to travel abroad take the precautionary dose of Covid vaccine required by the destination country before the mandatory nine-month gap.
Those over the age of 18 who have completed nine months after the second dose are currently eligible for the precautionary jab.
“The issue was discussed in a meeting of NTAGI held last week after which it recommended that those who need to travel overseas can take the booster shot, before the stipulated nine-month waiting period, as per the booster guidelines of the country they are travelling to,” a source had said.
India began administering precaution doses of Covid vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year.