NTAGI to review Covaxin, Corbevax data for 6-12 years
Government advisory panel NTAGI will meet on Thursday to review data on Covaxin and Corbevax vaccines for the 6-12 age group and also deliberate on reducing the gap between the second and precaution doses from the current 9 to 6 months.
The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) will hold its meeting amid a fresh spike in COVID-19 cases in the country. Currently, those aged 12 years and above are vaccinated against COVID-19.
The agenda for the NTAGI’s Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) meeting includes discussion on a study by the CMC Vellore on the feasibility of allowing precaution dose of a COVID-19 vaccine separate from the one used for primary vaccination, the Covid burden in paediatric population, and log-term safety of ZyCoV-D vaccine, official sources said.
The Covid Working Group of NTAGI which reviewed the findings of the CMC study in May had found a lack of uniformity in results upon mixing of jabs for booster shots. The study stated that the evidence showed that administering a booster dose of Covishield after primary vaccination with Covaxin gives 6 to 10 times higher antibody level as compared to when Covaxin is given as the precaution dose after a gap of six months after the primary schedule. “However, the same advantage was not observed when Covaxin as a booster shot given after two Covishield doses,” an official said.
Considering programmatic challenges, it was decided to discuss the matter in the NTAGI’s STSC meeting for final recommendation.