Medical certificates specifying comorbidity required for elderly to avail the booster dose

Dec. 26: In a surprise address on Christmas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that vaccine jabs will now be administered to those between 15 to 18 years in the country. This exercise will begin from 3 January, 2022. PM Modi also announced that India would start giving the third “precautionary dose” to healthcare and frontline workers and those above 60 with comorbidities from 10 January, 2022.

Quoting Dr RS Sharma, chief executive officer at National Health Authority who also heads the functioning of CoWIN platform, News18.com reported that Covid-19 booster shots, also known as ‘precautionary doses’, would require a medical certificate to prove their comorbidity. The certificate of comorbidity, signed by any registered medical practitioner, can either be uploaded on Co-WIN 2.0 by the beneficiary while self-registering or a hard copy can be carried by the beneficiary to the vaccination centres.

Dr RS Sharma, credited with making CoWIN said, “We will follow the same list of comorbidities that was released during the launch of vaccination drive for people between 45 to 59 years of age.” As reported by News18.com, the  government will be allowing booster doses on the basis of specified 20 comorbidities, including diabetes,   cardiovascular diseases, stem cell transplant, kidney disease or on dialysis, cirrhosis, cancer, sickle cell disease, and current prolonged use of steroids or immunosuppressant drugs.

Also Read: Vaccination to start for those between 15-18 years from 3 January, 2022: PM Modi