Citizens above the age of 60 who also have co-morbidities, healthcare and frontline workers who have already received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, will be given an extra dose starting January 10. This precautionary or booster dose is being administered sequentially to those who come nine months (or 39 weeks) from the date of administration of the second dose.
For the first day of the vaccination drive, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) set an ambitious target of administering the booster dose to over one lakh persons — 79,787 healthcare workers and 20,467 frontline workers.
At the same time, as many as 39,642 persons aged 60 years and above are expected to complete 39 weeks since their second dose on January 10.
In a month’s time, the civic body hopes to cover 4.3 lakh beneficiaries in all the three mentioned categories.
Those with co-morbidities will be eligible for the precautionary dose on doctor’s advice. However, they do not need any document/certificate from the doctor to get the vaccine.
That apart, fresh registration is not required for getting the precautionary dose.
BBMP’s Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta told reporters that vaccination camps will be organised for healthcare and frontline workers on the lines of those held in 2021. “The precautionary dose will be the same vaccine that was administered earlier,” he said.
About the spike in COVID-19 cases in Bengaluru, he said that the one main thing that citizens can do to check the spread of the virus is to wear a mask and follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. He also said that random testing had been increased from 35,000 to 70,000 a day.
“We have already covered 94% of the eligible population with the first dose while 80% have received the second dose as well. This is a big achievement. We have seen so far that the severity of infection is lesser than what it was during the second wave,” he said.
The BBMP, the civic chief said, had already taken several measures, such as reactivating triaging units and enabling door-to-door triaging through mobile triage units.
He also pointed out that those admitted in hospitals are mostly under the general bed category. “There are ample beds and oxygen available; oxygen equipment and concentrators are ready and on standby. As per government directions, more beds will be made available under government quota in private hospitals and medical colleges,” he added.
