Chandigarh, Sep 2 (PTI) The Punjab government will allow people travelling abroad urgently to take the second dose of Covisheild without waiting for mandatory 84 days.

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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.

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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 centres 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 centres 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 Sunday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)