People travelling abroad are now eligible for COVID booster shots: Centre

Centre on Thursday announced that people travelling abroad are now eligible to take Covid booster shots as needed. This comes after NTAGI recommendation to shorten the gap between the 2nd shot and the third for those who are travelling overseas.

Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Twitter, "Indian citizens & students travelling overseas can now take the precaution dose as required by the guidelines of the destination country."

The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) on Wednesday said people wishing to travel abroad can shorten the government-stipulated nine-month gap between the second and booster dose of covid-19 vaccine. Later, the recommendation was made to the Union health ministry.

For the last few months, Centre received several requests seeking the precaution dose of Covid vaccine for those who have to travel abroad for employment, business commitments, admission to foreign educational institutes, participating in sports events, and bilateral and multilateral meetings as part of India's official delegation.

"The issue was discussed in a meeting of NTAGI held last week after which it recommended that those who need to travel overseas can take the booster shot, before the stipulated nine-month waiting period, as per the booster guidelines of the country they are travelling to," a source told PTI.

Meanwhile, NTAGI is scheduled to meet again this week to review the data for immunization of children between 5-12 years of age for covid-19 and firm up protocols regarding vaccination.

The last two meetings remained inconclusive, with NTAGI experts yet to be convinced about the paediatric data available for vaccination.