Booster doses for all adults: Cost, eligibility, registration & other details

The Centre on Saturday told the states that the precaution dose will be of the same COVID-19 vaccine as the one used for the administration of the first two doses and that private vaccination centres can charge up to a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine.

Cost: Unlike the booster shots announced for healthcare workers, frontline staff and those above 60, the third jab will not be free for most adults.

Vaccine majors Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech on Saturday said they have decided to cut prices of the precaution dose of their respective COVID-19 vaccines to Rs 225 per shot for private hospitals after discussion with the government.

"We are pleased to announce that after discussion with the central government, SII has decided to revise the price of COVISHIELD vaccine for private hospitals from Rs 600 to Rs 225 per dose," SII CEO Adar Poonawalla said in a tweet.

On Friday, the company had said that the precaution dose of its Covishield vaccine against COVID-19 will be priced at Rs 600 per shot for eligible individuals.

Which Vaccine: "Administration of precaution dose will be homologous -- same vaccine type will be used for precaution dose which was used for vaccination of first and second dose," he stated.

Both SII and Bharat Biotech had stopped production of Covid-19 vaccines and were focusing on non-Covid vaccines as demand dwindled. SII has an inventory of 200-250 million doses of Covishield, while Bharat Biotech claims it has completed all its supply commitments.

Eligibility: All those above the age of 18, who have completed nine months after the administration of the second dose, will be eligible for the precaution dose.

CoWIN Registration: Bhushan, who held an orientation meeting of the health secretaries of all the states and Union territories on Saturday, also informed that no fresh registration would be required for the precaution dose as all due beneficiaries are already registered on the CoWIN platform.

It was emphasised that all vaccinations must mandatorily be recorded on CoWIN and both the options of "online appointment" and "walk-in" registration and vaccination will be available at the private Covid vaccination centres (CVCs).

What Else: The private CVCs will maintain the vaccination sites in accordance with the guidelines issued earlier by the Union health ministry.

Healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline workers (FLWs) and citizens aged 60 years and above shall continue to receive the precaution dose at the vaccination centres, including free vaccination at the government vaccination centres, Bhushan underlined.

A detailed orientation of the state officials was done on various new provisions made on CoWIN for the expansion of the eligible population for the precaution dose and also for the correction of the vaccination certificates by citizens.

The states were also advised to accelerate the administration of the ongoing free Covid vaccination with the first dose and the second dose to the population above 12 years of age and for optimal administration of the precaution dose for the HCWs, the FLWs and those aged 60 and above at the government CVCs.
Additional Secretary (Health) Dr Manohar Agnani and other senior officers of the Union health ministry were present at the virtual meeting, along with the health secretaries, NHM mission directors and other officials from the states and Union territories.