COVID booster shots may be allowed for Indians travelling overseas
The Centre may consider giving the green light for COVID-19 booster doses for people who are travelling abroad to study, for employment purposes, to attend business meetings or a sports or any other official event. Currently, only citizens above the age of 60 years and frontline and healthcare workers are eligible for the booster dose.
There has been no official directive in this regard however, said news reports quoting sources.
Official sources told PTI that scheduled international flights all set to resume from Sunday (March 27) and the ministry of external affairs has also been highlighting the challenges faced by Indian travellers. For instance, several countries have imposed travel restrictions such as the requirement for a third/booster dose and hence the health ministry is actively considering giving the nod to people travelling overseas for specific reasons to take the booster jab.
People would want to travel abroad for jobs, to study in foreign educational institutions, participate in sports tournaments, to take part in bilateral, multilateral meetings as part of India’s official delegation or to attend business commitments, said the official source, according to news reports. In such cases, the ministry may just give the go-ahead for the booster dose. The Union Ministry has also received a number of representations on this issue, said reports.
Also read: India looking at making all adults eligible for COVID booster doses: report
The health ministry is also discussing whether people travelling overseas and opting for booster dose will get their shots in a private centre and pay for it. Also, the prioritisation and sequencing of the dose can only be given after the completion of nine months from the date of administration of the second dose in sync with the existing guidelines.
Earlier in the week, there were reports that the Centre is considering making all those above 18 years eligible for the COVID vaccine booster shot in the light of a surge in coronavirus infections in parts of the world. Amid a growing chorus for booster doses by several states, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also brought up the issue in Rajya Sabha. She asked the government to issue clear guidelines for boosters for those under 60 years since many countries were laying down strict conditions for foreign travellers.
In many European countries, she said, vaccines are considered valid only for 270 days.
If travellers got their last vaccine shot in April 2021, they cannot enter many EU countries without a valid COVID test, she pointed out, adding that Indians wanting to travel abroad were now left in a lurch due to the absence of clear guidelines regarding the need for the third additional dose to travel abroad.
India began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year. People above 60 years became eligible for this dose after the Union Health Ministry removed the co-morbidity clause recently.
