“Government will send SMS to the eligible elderly population to remind them to take the precautionary dose that starts from January 10,” the Health Ministry informed.

The Union Health Ministry addressed a presser on Thursday regarding the Covid situation in the country and said the government will send an SMS to beneficiaries eligible for availing the ‘precaution dose’ when the third dose becomes due for people aged 60 and above with comorbidities.

“Government will send SMS to the eligible elderly population to remind them to take the precautionary dose that starts from January 10,” the Health Ministry informed.

Union Health Ministry joint secretary Luv Aggarwal informed, “On average, India reported more than 8,000 cases per day last week. Overall case positivity rate stands at 0.92%. From Dec 26 onwards, the country has been reporting 10,000 daily cases.”

According to the Health Ministry report, there are 961 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in India, out of which 320 patients have recovered.

Also read: Vaccines still proven to be effective against Omicron variant: WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan

“We are increasing the pool of available vaccines. Corbovax and Covovax are approved for emergency use in adults,” Union Health Ministry said.

“The weekly positivity rate of more than 10% is being noted in 8 districts including 6 districts from Mizoram, one from Arunachal Pradesh, Kolkata in West Bengal. The weekly case positivity rate is between 5-10% in 14 districts,” Luv Aggarwal said.

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat emerging as states/UTs of concern on the basis of weekly Covid-19 cases and positivity.

“Durability of immunity post Covid-19 infection persists for about 9 months.” “Approximately 90% of the adult population in India has been vaccinated against Covid-19 with the first dose,” Luv Aggarwal said.

“All Covid vaccines, whether they are from India, Israel, US, Europe, UK or China, are primarily disease-modifying. They don't prevent infection. The precautionary dose is primarily to mitigate the severity of infection, hospitalization, and death,” Union Health Ministry said.