The government has finally set the ball rolling on Covid booster doses. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that these would be given to frontline workers and those over 60 with co-morbidities. He also said that India’s vaccination plan would now cover 15-18-year-olds. Given the rising threat of the Omicron variant, such an exercise was keenly awaited. Immunity takes about a couple of weeks to develop, so our delayed response means we risk our boosters being too late, even for the most vulnerable. Though it’s unclear how much they’ll help, as Omicron is found to dodge defences, it’s the least we can do. The hope is that third jabs will meaningfully reduce the risk of severe illness.
Awkwardly, only Covaxin has emergency-use approval for under-18s, and not Covishield, which has had clearer efficacy data all along and still does. Also, children aged 12-15 have been left out, even though Covaxin has been cleared for them. Our immunization efforts need to respond quicker to pandemic realities, and the booster programme looks inadequate in the face of possible dangers. But Modi also said we have half a million oxygen beds now. We’re better prepared for a wave.
