Government to provide free COVID-19 booster doses from July 15

The government of India has taken an important decision where people between the age of 18-59 in the country can get a booster dose or third dose of the COVID vaccine at government immunization centers for free.

As a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, the booster dose will be free for 75 days, starting from July 15. Under this, people will be able to get booster doses by going to government centres just like the two vaccine doses given earlier.

“India is celebrating 75 years of independence. Therefore, on the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Kaal, it has been decided that from 15th July 2022 till the next 75 days, citizens above 18 years of age will be given booster doses free of cost,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur told the media.

According to the Health Department’s data, the corona infection rate has increased. Therefore, the government has appealed to the people to get a booster dose to end corona.

Most of India’s population had taken their second dose about nine months ago. Studies conducted at the ICMR and other international research institutes have shown that antibody levels begin to drop about six months after two initial doses of the vaccine, and immunity builds up after a booster dose.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry reduced the interval between the second and booster doses of the Covid vaccine from nine months to six months.

Moreover, as of now, India has administered 1,99,12,79,010 crore vaccine doses, and for the age group 12-14 years, over 3,76,28,293 crore 1st dose vaccines have been administered. However, in the last 24 hours, 11,15,068 COVID vaccines were administrated. Notably, the nationwide vaccination drive was started on January 16, 2021.