No medical certificate needed for 60 yrs+ to avail boosters, children can walk-in: Centre

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday wrote to Chief Secretaries of all states and union territories in regards to the vaccination for children between 15 to 17 years of age and precaution dose for healthcare workers and those 60 and above. The government said that those 60 years and above can avail booster doses without any medical certificate. However, it advised them to obtain advice from the doctor before opting for a precautionary dose.

"All persons aged 60 years and above with co-morbidities will not be required to produce/submit any certificate from a doctor, at the time of administration of precaution dose. such persons are expected to obtain the advice of their doctor before deciding to avail of the precaution dose," Centre said.

The COVID-19 vaccination drive for Children between 15-17 years of age will begin from January 3, 2021, while that for healthcare workers and 60 years and above from January 10. 

Both walk-in and online registration through CoWin facilities will be made available for teenagers. The registration on CoWIN platform will begin from January 1 and onsite registration from January 3. The only option of vaccination would be 'Covaxin'as this is the only COVID vaccine with EUL for the 15-18 age group and necessary recommendation of "COVID-19 Working group" of NTAGI.

Separate dedicated vaccination centres for children

States and UTs have been advised to establish separate dedicated COVID vaccination centres for the 15-18 years age group. "Separate queue with proper and prominent signages and separate vaccination team must be used, if the identified session site is same where adult vaccination is also ongoing," the health ministry said.

The Centre stated that there is a possibility of increased instances of crowding in the poll-bound states, hence next week and fortnight is crucial in these states to maximise vaccine coverage. "These States must review the implementation of their district-wise vaccination plans on a daily basis to ensure that the speed & coverage of COVID-19 vaccination is enhanced significantly," Rajesh Bhushan said.