Covid-19 Vaccine Matters: Booster shot debate heats up

With several cases of breakthrough infections being reported globally, the debate on Covid-19 booster shots is heating up. Israel was the first country to recommend Covid-19 booster doses in July and several European nations have since followed, targeting high-risk groups.

While a US panel has approved the booster shot of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for everyone aged 65 and above, as well as people at high risk of developing severe Covid, India made clear its stance that a booster dose is not the central theme of India's vaccination drive at the moment in either scientific discussions or the public health domain.

Meanwhile, a group of health workers, some politicians and their staff have reportedly received a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine over the past few weeks in India. This has either been done without using the Co-WIN portal or through an alternate number, the report suggested. Many of these assessed their antibody levels before getting the dose.

Weighing on the ongoing debate on booster shots, Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonawalla said Friday it was "unethical" to give third doses of the Covid-19 vaccine while developing nations are struggling to access first and second jabs.

One study suggests that after four months of the second dose, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is less effective at preventing infection (classified as a positive PCR test), with protection falling from 96 per cent to 84 per cent. However, the research is a preprint, meaning that its results have yet to be formally reviewed by other scientists. Similarly, real-life data from Israel suggests that people above 60 who received their second dose of the Pfizer vaccine in March 2021 were 1.6 times better protected against infection than those who received their second dose two months earlier. However, the data was less clear-cut when looking across other age groups. This study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

Meanwhile, Poonawalla announced a $4.9 billion (Rs 36,110 crore) deal to take a 15 per cent stake in a rival pharma firm, Biocon, allowing vaccine production to be ramped up. The 15 per cent stake in the Biocon unit is valued at more than $730 million, Biocon's Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said.

Bharat Biotech on Friday said it has submitted all the data pertaining to its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin to the World Health Organization for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) and is awaiting feedback from the global health watchdog. The WHO is currently reviewing the data submitted by the vaccine-maker and the date for a decision on the jab is yet "to be confirmed," according to the update available on WHO website.

Meanwhile, India on Friday set a new Covid-19 vaccination record with over 2.5 crore jabs on a single day coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 71st birthday, bringing the country within a touching distance of 80 crore vaccination milestone. The mega spike eclipsed the Chinese record of 2.43 crore vaccinations in a single day.

Buoyed by the success, the Union Health Ministry hopes to reach the landmark of 100 crore vaccination by the first week of October, coinciding again with Modi's 20th year at public office. At the end of the day, over 2.5 crore doses were administered, pushing the total vaccination count to 79.3 crore. More than 59 crore vaccines or 75 per cent of the shots have been given as the first dose, whereas 25 per cent of the Indian adults (19.75 crore) are now fully vaccinated.

This has also triggered a political row as the Congress on Saturday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should celebrate his birthday every day as some BJP-ruled states "performed" on the day and vaccinated many times the daily average.

India saw a single-day rise of 35,662 new Covid-19 infections, while the active cases increased to 3,40,639, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday. The active cases now comprise 1.02 per cent of the total infections and the national Covid-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 97.65 per cent, it said.

Healthcare officials are now worried about growing complacency as Covid-19 infection rates and deaths decline could lead to people skipping their second vaccine shots, leaving communities vulnerable to the coronavirus. Large numbers of people skipping their second dose would be particularly problematic in areas with low numbers of previously infected people, meaning more people with fewer antibodies, so those communities would be more vulnerable, an expert said.

Meanwhile, a report by Check Point Research pointed out that fake Covid-19 vaccination certificates and fake test results of 29 different countries, including India, are being sold on Telegram. According to the report, a fake vaccination certificate for India is available at a price of about $75 (Rs 5,520) each. Oded Vanunu, head (products vulnerability research) at Check Point Software Technologies, said there are people who don't want to take the vaccine but still want the freedoms that come with being vaccinated such as access to places.