Centre mulling to allow adults to take booster dose amid resurgence of COVID cases

India is contemplating making all adults eligible for booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as illnesses spread in some places and some Indians find it difficult to go overseas without a third dosage, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.

Only frontline employees and those over the age of 60 are now permitted to receive booster doses in India, whether free in government facilities or paid for in private institutions. The administration is discussing whether to supply free boosters to other groups, according to one of the individuals, who both requested anonymity because the government has yet to make a decision.

A spokesperson for the Health Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Lawmakers in Parliament have asked for boosters to be made available to all adults as soon as possible.

The Health Ministry advised Indian governments this week to increase surveillance for the disease, noting a comeback in various regions of Asia and Europe. Cases have recently increased in countries such as China and Italy.

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Infections in India, on the other hand, have dropped to their lowest level in more than a year, with 1,549 new cases reported in the last 24 hours and 31 deaths. India's total of illnesses throughout the pandemic currently stands at more than 43 million, with 516,510 fatalities, after being devastated last year by a wave of Delta infections that caused morgues to run out of room and people to die in parking lots.

More over 20 million of the 1.81 billion vaccine doses supplied to the world's 1.4 billion people are boosters. Some Indians have claimed on Twitter that organisers of some international events have limited admittance to individuals who have received booster dosages. Countries such as Israel, for example, do not consider immunisation complete unless booster doses are administered.

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