By Express News Service
BENGALURU: The medical community is of the opinion that the government needs to issue guidelines to ascertain whether a booster Covid vaccine dose is necessary or not.
Dr Ravindra Mehta, Senior Consultant and HoD, Pulmonology and Interventional Pulmonology at Apollo Speciality Hospitals, said that other countries have conducted studies and found that two vaccine doses are not enough to fight the Delta variant.
“Hence, a booster dose may help,” he added.
He said booster doses can be given to people who are immunocompromised, or have waning vaccine immunity, or are unable to mount an immune response despite two doses, etc.
“There needs to be a strategy in place. We do not have sufficient data on vaccine immunity waning, time-gap before the booster dose, etc. The discussion right now is presumptive,” he stated.
Dr Pruthu Narendra Dhekane, Consultant, Infectious Diseases, Fortis Hospitals, said the focus right now should be on 100 per cent vaccine coverage. “We should first try to give both the doses to people, then we can think about a booster dose,” he said.
“In the UK, booster doses will be administered for healthcare workers and the elderly in September. However, in India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has not come out with guidelines,” said Dr Aravinda G M, Consultant, Internal Medicine, Manipal Hospitals.
“ICMR is likely to take a call after looking at data on reinfection, antibody titres, the prevalence found in the recent serosurvey and benefits of the first two doses. A booster dose will be needed if the existing two doses do not offer sufficient protection,” the doctor added, and said the medical fraternity is divided over the subject.
