Medical experts in India are echoing the World Health Organization’s recommendations on booster doses to those who are immunocompromised or have received both the doses of inactivated vaccine.

In India, Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine and experts point to a recent data in the real-world setting and among a high-risk population that showed two doses of Covaxin had an efficacy of 50-60 per cent against symptomatic Covid 19 infection. “In such a situation, a booster is necessary for those who are elderly and immunocompromised,” an expert said.

Meanwhile, according to reports, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) will meet for the first time on Friday to decide on booster dose. Recently, Serum Institute of India had also written to the Centre on the booster issue.

Also read: Gujarat reports two more Omicron Covid variant cases, India’s tally up to 25

“First, we have to analyse when the immunity developed by the inactivated vaccine will drop. Besides vaccine-based immunity, other factors like T-cell mediated immunity and neutralising antibody titres also need to be considered, to determine the period for which the vaccine will work,” a senior scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research told BusinessLine .

Priority booster dose

He further added that those who are immunocompromised should be given priority for the booster dose. According to him, the main factor to be considered for administering booster dose is the timeline. A specific duration has to be determined based on which people who are vulnerable to the infection should be given the booster dose.

“The vaccine-induced immunity reduces after six months. If immunocompromised people don’t mount an antigenic response, then you have to give an additional dose to them within six months,” Kedar Toraskar of Wockhardt Hospital said.

“Only 36 per cent of our population is doubly vaccinated and 57 per cent has got a single shot. We are far behind the western countries who have achieved 90 per cent immunisation and it is due to the fact that we are vastly populated. Epidemiologically it makes sense to give the second dose to the maximum population and if there is a surplus, then it should be used as a booster dose for immunocompromised, elderly, healthcare and frontline workers,” Toraskar further added.

Also read: The daily dose: December 10, 2021

Meanwhile, as per the Health Ministry sources, there seems to be an evolving consensus among NTAGI members to give booster doses to the frontline and healthcare workers who are losing their immunity as they received their vaccination in the months of January and February. In the next meeting, they are likely to come out with the timelines for the implementation of the booster dose policy.

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