What is the Health Ministry advisory on children, pregnant women and those on blood thinners?
The story so far: On January 14, two days before India began the massive inoculation drive for COVID-19, the Health Ministry released a note on precautions and contradictions for the vaccines cleared so far, Covishield and Covaxin. Both India-made vaccines had emergency use approval and one of the points the circular clarified is that shots are to be given only to those 18 years and above.
What are the other specifications?
The Health Ministry note said there should ideally be a gap of at least 14 days between a COVID-19 vaccine shot and other vaccines. It said it was not permitted to interchange the COVID-19 vaccines: under the two-dose regime the second dose should be of the same vaccine which was administered the first time around. Further, the vaccines should be administered with caution in persons with a history of any bleeding or coagulation disorder (clotting factor deficiency, co