Vaccination norms relaxed for people visiting abroad urgently

The Punjab government will allow people traveling abroad urgently to take the second dose of Covisheild without waiting for mandatory 84 days.

This relaxation for the administration of the second dose has also been extended to foreign nationals needing to return to their countries, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said in a statement on Thursday.

For availing this relaxation in inoculation, the people needing to travel abroad for unavoidable reasons may be asked to produce a copy of travel documents such as visas, confirmed tickets, and other documents justifying the urgency for undertaking the travel, he added.

This decision has been taken "as several Punjabis travel abroad for studies or some other important reasons", the minister said.

In a bid to further jack up the second dose of vaccination, the government has also decided to hold special sessions every Sunday at government centers for the administration of the second shot.

"Coverage of COVID-19 vaccination or 2nd dose to beneficiaries remains critical for the successful impact of the vaccination drive. So, it has been decided to earmark every Sunday for the COVID vaccination session at all government Covid vaccination centers only for administering the second dose among due beneficiaries," he said.

Normal vaccination sessions for the first and second doses of the vaccine will remain the same during the weekdays except Sundays.