News Analysis India

Tag: Covid booster dose

  • Delhi, Bihar government to reimburse Centre for using COVID jabs as free precaution dose

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Delhi and Bihar, which have started administering free Covid precaution doses for the 18-59 year age group, have to reimburse the National Health Authority for using the available stock of jabs provided by the Union government for the purpose, official sources said Friday.

    Following requests from these two states, the Union Health Ministry has made a provision on the CoWIN portal for creating sessions to administer the precaution doses at government COVID vaccination centres, they said.

    They had sought permission from the ministry to use the available stock of COVID vaccine as precaution dose in government vaccination centres free of cost, saying they would reimburse or replenish the stock upon procurement.

    “The Union Health Ministry has agreed to their proposal…But they shall reimburse the cost of the vaccine used for the purpose to the National Health Authority,” an official source said. The Union government had announced that the precaution dose of anti-COVID19 vaccines will be available to everyone aged above 18 years at the private vaccination centres beginning April 10.

    The Delhi government had written to the Union Health Ministry, saying that the uptake of precaution doses at private COVID vaccination centres (CVCs) was not very promising.

    Delhi government’s Principal Secretary, Health, Manisha Saxena had said that to promote the uptake of precaution dose among the 18-59 years age group, the Government of NCT Delhi intends to administer precaution dose for this group in all government CVCs free of cost.

    “In order to give the benefit of precaution dose to all eligible beneficiaries in Delhi, the same will be available for 18 to 59 years age group, free of cost in all government CVCs from April 21,” the Delhi health department said in an order.

    Both online appointments and walk-in facility will be available, it added.

    Bihar’s Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Pratyaya Amrit, had told the Centre, “As the procurement of vaccines may take a few days, we request you to kindly allow the administration of the current stock of vaccines as precaution dose to 18 to 59 years age group which would be later replenished upon procurement by the state.”

    Vaccine majors Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech have decided to cut prices of the precaution dose of their respective COVID-19 vaccines to Rs 225 per shot for private hospitals after discussion with the government.

    The Centre had told the states that the precaution dose will be of the same COVID-19 vaccine like the one used for the administration of the first two doses and that private vaccination centres can charge up to a maximum of Rs 150 per dose as a service charge over and above the cost of the vaccine.

  • No mix and match of Covid vaccines for booster jabs: Govt

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: The Union government on Wednesday announced that it will not mix covid vaccines when administering booster doses which begin on January 10 for the most vulnerable population groups.

    “Precautionary Covid-19 vaccine dose will be the same vaccine as has been given previously,” said VK Paul, member-health, NITI Aayog, in a press briefing by the Union health ministry on Covid19 status and health system preparedness in the country. “Those who’ve received Covaxin will receive Covaxin, those who’ve received primary two doses of Covishield will receive Covishield,” declared Paul.

    He, however, added that as the programme progresses and more data is available, there can be a review later. 

    ALSO READ | Mixed vaccines safe, more effective, finds Hyderabad AIG Hospitals study

    On December 25, Prime Minister Narendra had announced that a “precautionary dose”, or a booster shot, would be administered to healthcare and frontline workers and those over 60 years with co-morbidities from January 10.

    In guidelines issued a day later, the ministry had said that everyone qualifying for the booster jab, however, will need to have completed 9 months since the second dose of vaccination

    However, the government had not clarified if it would allow administering mixing vaccine doses.

    ALSO READ | 73-year-old man from Rajasthan is first to die of Omicron in India

    Last week, ICMR director general Balram Bhargava had said a series of meetings had been happening to deliberate on the issue and to examine the locally available data before a final decision on booster jabs is taken.

    Senior members of the Covid working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization have been discussing, among other things, the number of people eligible for the third Covid jabs, options of vaccines available, new vaccines and whether it will be the same or different vaccines, he had said.

  • Maharashtra doctors suggest booster dose of vaccine for better immunity against COVID-19

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: In light of the rise in COVID-19 cases in Europe, several medical practitioners in Maharashtra have suggested that a booster dose of the vaccine against coronavirus should be administered to healthcare and frontline workers.

    Talking to PTI, Dr Gautam Bhansali, consultant physician of Bombay Hospital, said the count of antibodies in people, who have completed their vaccination some six to eight months ago, is declining.

    “The count of antibodies in people who have taken the second dose of vaccine some six to eight months ago is going down. We should administer a third dose or booster dose of vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers, as they are more vulnerable to the infection,” Dr Bhansali said.

    People with co-morbid conditions also face similar challenges, and should be considered for the booster dose, he said.

    “European countries are already facing another round COVID-19 cases. As we have introduced more relaxations, we should be ready to face a similar wave of infections somewhere in February or March 2022,” he said.

    “Instead of reacting in panic, we should be prepared for the third wave in India. It is established that vaccine doses help increase immunity against the severity of the infection. It will be good if we think of a booster dose now,” Dr Bhansali said.

    Speaking in a similar vein, a member of the Maharashtra State COVID-19 task force said, “Vaccine doses are available and we should utilise them to make our lives safer.”

    The issue of vaccine hesitancy is being addressed by the Central and the state governments.

    Concentrated efforts should be made to keep fresh infections in check, he said.

    “One way to achieve this is by administering a third dose of the vaccine to people engaged in healthcare services and government officials. Such a measure will help keep a check on the spread of infection,” another doctor said.

    Maharashtra recorded 766 new COVID-19 infections and 19 fresh fatalities in the last 24 hours even as the active cases in the state remained below 10,000 for the third consecutive day, the health department said on Tuesday.

    With addition of new infections and fatalities, the statewide caseload increased to 66,31,297 and the toll to 1,40,766, the department said in a bulletin.

    The state had reported eight fresh fatalities and 656 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, lowest one-day figures since April 2020.

    The health department said 929 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

    With this, the number of recovered cases rose to 64,77,379.

    The COVID-19 recovery rate in the state stands at 97.68 per cent, while the case fatality rate is 2.12 per cent.

    There are now 9,493 active cases in the state, the bulletin said.

    Currently, 85,335 people are in home quarantine and 1,077 people are in institutional quarantine, it added.

    The cumulative number of coronavirus tests in the state climbed to 6,48,44,896, of which 87,506 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.

    Twelve districts and seven civic bodies did not report any new COVID-19 cases.

    Mumbai reported the highest 190 new infections, followed by 102 in Pune city.

    Among the eight administrative regions of Maharashtra (each consisting of a set of districts), the Mumbai region reported the highest 310 new COVID-19 cases, followed by 243 in Pune and 142 in the Nashik region.

    Among others, the Kolhapur region recorded 24, Aurangabad 20, Latur 15, Nagpur eight and Akola four.

    The Pune region recorded seven deaths, Nashik five, Mumbai and Latur three each and Kolhapur one.

    Akola, Nagpur and Aurangabad regions recorded zero deaths.

    Among the 9,493 active coronavirus cases in the state, Mumbai district has the highest at 2,561, he said.

    The official said out of the 64,77,379 recovered patients across the state, the highest – 11,37,450 – were from Pune district.

    Coronavirus figures for Maharashtra are as follows: Total cases 66,31,297, new cases 766, total deaths 1,40,766, recoveries 64,77,379, active cases 9,493, total tests 6,48,44,896.

  • Booster dose not part of India’s vaccine plan yet

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  Some developed countries have already started or are about to roll out Covid-19 booster doses amid concerns of waning  immunity as the more dangerous delta variant runs amok globally. But this proposition is not on radar in India as of now, authorities told this daily.

    Israel, with the threat of a fresh wave of the pandemic looming, recently became the first nation to start booster doses of Covid vaccines. France and Germany, too, have declared their intent to start booster doses to some of the most vulnerable population groups beginning September.

    Indian government said the priority is to maximise the vaccination coverage, which stands at less than 8% for two doses. “I don’t think there is sufficient data to suggest that a booster dose is required for those fully vaccinated,” said Samiran Panda, chief epidemiologist with the ICMR and member of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid.

    However, there is a section that wants the government to explore the possibility of booster doses, mainly for healthcare workers who were the first to be vaccinated. Months have passed since they got their second doses. “A number of doctors among other healthcare workers were fully vaccinated in March. Unfortunately, many of them died during the second wave,” said a member of the Indian Medical Association.

    This was mainly because vaccines were less effective against the delta variant. It would be prudent for the government, he said, to offer healthcare workers booster doses, preferably with mRNA vaccine, once it is available.

    Panda, on the other hand, pointed out that data so far suggests that existing vaccines are capable of ensuring protection against serious disease and fatalities from six months to one year or longer. through memory T cells.

    Only on Wednesday, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom called for a moratorium on booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines until the end of September. This proposed moratorium, if implemented, will be a temporary measure to enable at least 10  of the population of every country to be vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2, however some rich countries have clearly decided to ignore it.

    Srinath Reddy, president of Public Health Foundation of India and member of the National Covid-19 task force, backed the WHO position. “The WHO says special categories of persons who require immunity boosters, such as immunocompromised persons, may still be given booster doses,” he said, adding that it is the demand for boosters in those countries which will become a problem.