New Delhi Mar 26 PTI The government may soon allow a precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine for those seeking to travel abroad for education employment sports and for attending official or business commitments official sources said on Saturday Discussions are also underway on whether overseas-bound travellers opting for booster dose should receive the shot at private vaccination centres and pay for it they said Currently healthcare and frontline workers and those aged above 60 are being administered precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccine With scheduled international flights set to resume from Sunday the Ministry of External Affairs recently highlighted the travel restrictions beingenforced by certain countries in view of the requirement of a thirdbooster dose and how that is impacting necessary travel of Indian travellers sources with knowledge of the matter told PTI The Union Health Ministry is also learnt to have received representations for allowing administration of precaution dose for those seeking to travel for employment opportunities educational purpose or for attending officialbusiness commitments etc In view of these the health ministry is actively considering to allow boosterprecaution dose of COVID vaccine for those seeking to travel abroad for jobs admission in foreign educational institutions participating in sports tournaments in bilateral multilateral meetings as part of Indias official delegation or for attending business commitments an official source told PTI No official directive in this regard has been issued by the Union Health Ministry yet The prioritisation and sequencing of the dose would be based on the completion of nine months from the date of administration of the second dose as per the existing guidelines The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 2021 with the healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase Vaccination of the frontline workers started from February 2 last year The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on March 1 last year for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions India launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1 last year The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 years of age to be inoculated against the viral disease from May 1 last year The next phase of vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years India began administering precaution doses of the vaccines to the healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10 this year COVID-19 vaccination for children in the age group of 12 -14 years started from March 16 this year PTI PLB RT

New Delhi Nov 20 PTI The Union Health Ministry has activated a service on the CoWIN portal that allows anyone to check an individuals vaccination status with the persons registered mobile number and name followed by an OTP for consent The service could be utilised by a service provider -- private entities such as travel agencies offices employers entertainment agencies or government agencies such as IRCTC -- for whom verifying a persons vaccination status is critical for facilitating a service requested by the citizen an official said The new feature Know Your Vaccination Status will help to verify and retrieve a citizens vaccination status and details by an authorised entity the ministry said in a statement Vaccinated people also can share their vaccination status on the social media and inspire other to take the jab Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted Now flaunt your vaccine badge Share your vaccination status with your friends family through CoWIN portal with 2 easy steps Enter name mobile no Enter OTP Inspire people to get vaccinated defeat COVID-19 National Health Authority CEO R S Sharma said in a tweet Now download the fully partially vaccinated badge from CoWIN cowingovin share it with your friends on all your social platforms Encourage your family and friends to follow you and FightCovid The service is being built to help citizens who may not have the vaccine certificate available in digital or paper form for availing a requested service and can support the service provider to verify the vaccination statusvaccination digital record of the citizen as per the authorised permission of the requesting entity The service helps in verifying the vaccination status of individuals The service can be utilised by travel agencies and help making travel safe for individuals by allowing travel only for vaccinated individuals Employers can use this service to verify vaccination status of employees and resume the functions in offices workplaces etc This service will help in resuming and catalysing the economic activities in country the official said PTI PLB SMN SMN

New Delhi Nov 20 PTI The Union Health Ministry has activated a service on the CoWIN portal that allows anyone to check an individuals vaccination status with the persons registered mobile number and name followed by an OTP for consent The service could be utilised by a service provider -- private entities such as travel agencies offices employers entertainment agencies or government agencies such as IRCTC -- for whom verifying a persons vaccination status is critical for facilitating a service requested by the citizen an official said Now download the fully partially vaccinated badge from CoWIN cowingovin share it with your friends on all your social platforms Encourage your family and friends to follow you and FightCovid National Health Authority CEO R S Sharma said in a tweet The service is being built to help citizens who may not have the vaccine certificate available in digital or paper form for availing a requested service and can support the service provider to verify the vaccination statusvaccination digital record of the citizen as per the authorised permission of the requesting entity The service helps in verifying the vaccination status of individuals The service can be utilised by travel agencies and help making travel safe for individuals by allowing travel only for vaccinated individuals Employers can use this service to verify vaccination status of employees and resume the functions in offices workplaces etc This service will help in resuming and catalysing the economic activities in country the official said PTI PLB SMN SMN

New Delhi Oct 25 PTI The Union Health Ministry has sent a high-level multidisciplinary team to Uttar Pradesh where a case of Zika virus disease has been reported A 57-year-old man from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh tested positive for Zika virus on October 22 In a statement the ministry said the multidisciplinary team comprising an entomologist public health specialists and gynaecologist drawn from the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme National Centre for Disease Control and RML Hospital New Delhi has been deployed to assist the state health authorities for control and containment measures of Zika virus disease The team shall work closely with the state health department take stock of the situation on the ground and assess whether the Union Health Ministrys Action Plan for Zika Management is being implemented The team will also recommend necessary public health interventions for management of Zika in the state the statement said PTI UZM SMN SMN