Centre silent on Covid-19 booster doses despite studies showing benefits

A study backs prioritising boosters for 'at risk' groups before double vaccination of masses

Eighty percent of India’s 161 Omicron cases are asymptomatic whereas 14 per cent have mild symptoms, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Parliament on Monday, but maintained silence on the government’s plan on a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine even as new scientific evidence emerged on the usefulness of such a boost to prevent mortality.

Scientists at the Imperial College, London have shown that in a country like India with a large number of infections and low vaccination rate, a booster dose to the elderly and the vulnerables have greater public health benefits than fully vaccinating the younger lot.

“We find that prioritising limited vaccine supply for boosters in the elderly, higher-risk population has a greater public health impact, reducing deaths by an additional 5 per cent compared to using these same doses to immunise younger age-groups in an effort to reduce transmission,” the Imperial College researchers reported last week.

Read more: Can booster doses fight Omicron variant of Covid-19? Here's what experts have to say

The study that looked into the role of a booster shot to tackle the threat of an Omicron surge showed booster doses would be critical to mitigate the impact of future Omicron waves in countries with high levels of circulating virus.

“Where dose supply is limited, targeting boosters to the highest risk groups to ensure continued high protection in the face of waning immunity is of greater benefit than giving these doses as primary vaccination to younger age-groups,” adds the study.

"The Imperial College study shows that upto 5 per cent mortality can be prevented by giving a booster shot to those who are at risk such as the elderly and those having comorbidities. The least the government can do is to have a clear policy on boosters,” said virologist Shahid Jameel, senior research fellow at Green Templeton College, Oxford.

Prioritizing boosters and beds for those at risk of hospitalization was an important determinant of how well we fight Omicron in early 2022, said Giridhara Babu, an epidemiologist at the Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru.

Earlier Mandaviya stated in the Parliament that he would wait for recommendations from the NTAGI (National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation) and NEGVAC (National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19) before taking a decision on the booster shot. Health ministry officials, on the other hand, said their priority would be to complete the two primary doses for 94.47 crore adults rather than the booster shot, on which scientific evidence was still evolving.

Responding to a debate on the Covid-19 situation, the Health Minister on Monday said 58 per cent of the adults were fully vaccinated with two doses whereas 88 per cent received at least one dose. Two more companies submitted their vaccine trial data to the regulator and are expected to receive the Emergency Use Authorisation soon, he added.

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