The Karnataka Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a circular on Tuesday which said that the second dose Covishield vaccines can be provided after 28 days to some who are travelling abroad. The group that will be allowed to get vaccinated under this include students travelling abroad for education, those travelling abroad for work and athletes who are going to participate in the Tokyo Olympics.

The circular stated, “According to the direction of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the following groups of people can be vaccinated 28 days after (the first dose of vaccination). The statement said that the Deputy Commissioners will act as Competent Authority for this vaccination in all districts. Within the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits, however, the eight zonal commissioners will act as competent authority.

The Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) are as follows:

·         The Competent Authority can provide permission for the second dose of Covishield vaccination to those who are eligible under these groups.

·         Vaccination camps for such groups may only be held in government COVID-19 vaccination centers.

·         District level and in case of BBMP, zone level camps have to be organized by selecting a vaccination center in the district or zone for those who are in the eligible groups.

·         The competent authority has to verify all the documents provided by the candidate and permit those in the eligible group to receive the vaccine within 84 days of the first dose of Covishield.

·         An acknowledgement letter has to be provided after entering the candidate’s details in the self-declaration certificate provided by the state, following the verification of documents.

·         If the candidate has received the first dose of vaccine without registering their passport, he shall be given a vaccination certificate for taking the second dose of vaccine.

·         For the benefit of the public, information about the vaccination center has to be publicized.

For everyone else, Covishield second dose will be given as per the Union government’s recommendation of between 12-16 weeks.