Govt to administer Moderna vaccine instead of Pfizer as booster dose

The government will administer Moderna vaccine as booster shot instead of Pfizer to curb Delta and Omicron variants' surge of coronavirus in the country.

The decision was taken considering the existing stock of vaccines and to ensure vaccines for all people in the country, The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) issued a circular in this regard on Wednesday.

The Pfizer vaccine will be reserved to be used as the first and second dose for the schoolchildren aged between 12 and 18 years and for the pupils who have gotten their first doses of Pfizer vaccine.

The government is planning to bring around one crore students of secondary and higher secondary level under the vaccine coverage by January 30.

The DGSH has also sent the instruction to all concerned authorities across the country to make the effort successful.

According to the government decision, the schoolchildren aged between 12 and 18 years will be able to receive the vaccine after showing identity cards of their educational institutions at their respective vaccine centres.

But the government has yet not taken any decision to bring students of public and private universities under the vaccine coverage.

According to the education ministry source, a decision will come out in this regard in a meeting to be held with the National University on Tuesday.

The DGHS rolled out the booster vaccine programme on December 28 and the doses are currently being given to the people aged 60 years and frontline workers.

A man will be eligible for the third shot if at least six months have passed after taking his or her second dose.

The government administered a total of 8,33,45,391 first dose of coronavirus vaccine, 5,5821,381 second dose and 5,40,526 booster doses of vaccine across the country till Thursday morning.