Registration for precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine begins on CoWIN portal on Saturday
New Delhi, Jan 8: Registration for the 'precaution dose' of COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers, frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with co-morbidities started on the CoWIN portal on Saturday evening.
The exercise of administering the precaution dose to these category of beneficiaries will begin from Jan 10.
Additional Secretary and Mission Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Vikas Sheel on Saturday said in a tweet, "The feature for online appointments for precaution dose for HCWs/FLWs and Citizens (60+) is now live on Co-WIN.To book an appointment, please visit http://cowin.gov.in"
There is no need for new registration of those taking the precautionary dose and they can directly take an appointment from Saturday or walk-in, the Union Health Ministry had said.
All people aged 60 years and above with co-morbidities will not be required to produce or submit any certificate from their doctor at the time of administration of the precaution dose, the Centre informed states and UTs recently.
Such people are expected to obtain the advice of their doctor before deciding to avail of the precaution dose or third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.
In a letter to states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the personnel to be deployed for election duty in poll-bound states will also be included in the category of FLWs.
Eligibility of such beneficiaries for the precaution dose will be based on the date of administration of the second dose as recorded in the Co-WIN system (completion of 9 months i.e. 39 weeks from the date of administration of second dose), according to the guidelines issued by the ministry.
CoWIN will send reminder messages to all those eligible for the precaution dose and the dose will be reflected in the digital vaccination certificates.
More than 2 crore (2,27,33,154) first doses of the vaccine have been administered to adolescents in the 15-18 age group taking the total doses administered to over 151.47 crore on Saturday, the Union Health Ministry said.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
