The Kerala government has urged the Centre to allow booster doses of the vaccine against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) for those with co-morbidities and reduce the gap of the second dose of Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishield.
Speaking during an event organised by the Indian Express, state health minister Veena George said that she has already written to Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya regarding the allowance of booster doses, adding that her secretary has taken up this matter with the secretary of the Union health ministry.
Pointing out that the decision on booster doses will be based on expert opinion, George said during the Indian Express event, “We have more number of people with lifestyle diseases — diabetes, hypertension, etc. We have analysed Covid-19 deaths and it was more in people with these comorbidities. It is good if they get a booster dose. This is why we have decided to request the central government to take a decision on giving booster doses.”
The Kerala health minister also added that the gap between two doses of Covishield should be reduced due to a large number of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in the state.
“Many of our people work abroad and if they come here and take the first dose of vaccine, it will be difficult for them to stay for 84 days to take the second dose. So we have asked for the gap to be reduced,” George said.
In June, the Centre allowed administering a second Covishield dose before the prescribed period of 12-16 weeks in certain cases. These included people who are seeking to travel abroad for education, employment or were a part of the Indian contingent to the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
Meanwhile, Veena George also urged the Centre to take a quick decision on vaccinating children against Covid-19.
Two days ago, Union health minister Madaviya said that the Centre does not want to rush regarding the inoculation of children against the virus and any decision in this regard will be taken based on expert opinion.
Kerala, which is one of the worst-hit states by the coronavirus pandemic, has so far administered 40,753,975 vaccine doses to eligible people of which 25,489,633 have received the first dose and the remaining 15,264,342 are fully vaccinated.
The state on Friday recorded 6,674 new cases of Covid, 59 related deaths and 7,022 people recovered from the disease.
