The government has said that those taking the precautionary dose did not need to produce any travel documents. However, vaccination centres are planning to ask for some proof to show that the recipient was indeed travelling abroad and that too under one of the grounds stated by the Centre
The administration of Covid-19 vaccine booster shots before nine months to those travelling abroad has raised a lot of queries. The government has said that those taking the precautionary dose did not need to produce any travel documents. However, vaccination centres are planning to ask for some proof to show that the recipient was indeed travelling abroad and that too under one of the grounds stated by the Centre.
No guidelines have been issued yet by the states or corporation immunisation departments regarding vaccination centres checking travel documents for the precautionary dose. The government, on May 12, allowed Indians travelling abroad to take the booster shot three months after the second dose, instead of nine months, if mandated in the guidelines of the destination country.
In a circular issued a day later, the Union Health Ministry said that those who were travelling for “educational purpose, employment opportunities, participation in sports tournaments, bilateral, multilateral meetings as part of India’s official delegation, for attending business commitments, etc.,” could take the third shot.
The Union Health Ministry has ruled that there was no need to upload any documents on Co-WIN, such as visa and travel documents, to prove that people applying for a booster dose were undertaking international travel. This clause has left vaccination centres in confusion. ToI quoted a vaccination centre head saying, “Without checking travel documents how can we tell the individual is travelling for any one of the reasons the Union Health Ministry has underlined? In fact, how can we tell if the individual is travelling abroad at all?” He also said that there were no directives on whether those travelling for leisure could take the third dose since the Centre’s circular did not mention it.
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