Inoculation of adults a priority, booster shot talks on: Officials
NEW DELHI: India’s discussions around a booster shot of Covid-19 vaccines have revolved more around the question of when, rather than if, people familiar with the matter said, but the priority right now is to start vaccinating young people between the ages of 12 and 18 years, and completing the vaccination of all adults.
“Eventually we might need a booster dose, and there have been some discussions on it, but the current focus is on vaccinating all adults and the process of including children in the programme since the Zydus Cadila vaccine has been approved. A lot of thought at the moment is on how to introduce it (the Zydus vaccine) in the system,” said a senior government official who asked not to be named.
ZYCOV-D, the Zydus vaccine, is likely to be introduced as part of the vaccine programme soon, although an announcement on vaccinating children is awaited. Till Wednesday night, India has vaccinated 236 million people fully, with another 409 million receiving one dose of the vaccine. With 68.7% of the eligible population having received at least one dose, it is likely the demand for first doses will start tapering off. In many western countries, the ceiling is around 80% of the eligible population.
“However, whenever it happens that the booster dose is recommended by experts of
National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NTAGI/NEGVAC), there is a possibility that it will happen in a phased manner... and those at high risk will be put on the priority list,” the official added.
A Covid-19 booster shot is an additional dose of vaccine given so that the protection provided by the original dosage does not fade. The US has approved a booster dose for health workers and others at high risk. Booster shots are controversial because of vaccine inequity — people in many parts of Africa are yet to receive even one dose of the vaccine — and because there’s no clear evidence in their favour.
“It does seem too soon to be giving booster shots. We have data from other countries that have different vaccines and infection rates,” said Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of country’s top vaccinologist from Christian Medical College, Vellore.