Union Minister Anurag Thakur, today announced that all adults will receive free Covid booster doses at all government facilities for 75 days beginning on Friday, July 15. According to news agency PTI, which blockquoted government officials, the initiative, which aims to increase the uptake of preventive doses, is a part of the government's celebration of India's 75th anniversary of independence known as Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

The decision comes at a time when the country has been registering a spike in Covid-19 cases - over 15,000 daily.

According to an official source, less than 1% of people between the ages of 18 and 59 have taken the precautionary dose, while about 26% of the estimated 16 crore eligible people above the age of 60, as well as healthcare and frontline personnel, have received the boosters.

“A majority of the Indian population got their second dose over nine months ago. Studies at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and other international research institutions have suggested that antibody levels wane around six months after the primary vaccination with both doses,” an official told PTI.

Following a suggestion from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization, the health ministry lowered the interval between the second and booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from the previous nine months to six months last week (NTAGI).