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Business News/ News / India/  Covid-19: No plan yet on booster shots for all, say govt officials
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Covid-19: No plan yet on booster shots for all, say govt officials

The officials have said there’s no scientific data or guidance by the World Health Organization that says a booster dose for all adults is necessary

There’s no scientific data or guidance by the World Health Organization that says a booster dose for all adults is necessary, the official said. (HT)Premium
There’s no scientific data or guidance by the World Health Organization that says a booster dose for all adults is necessary, the official said. (HT)

In view of the Covid-19 situation stabilizing within the country, India has not decided on immediate plans to allow Covid-19 booster vaccine doses to all adults and will hold off immunising children between five and 15 years of age till there’s authoritative scientific evidence, officials involved in pandemic management told Hindustan Times.

The officials have said that if the central government does allow booster doses for all adults, and not just to health and front line workers and senior citizens with comorbidities, the eligible people will continue to be tracked through the government’s CoWIN portal, Hindustan Times reported. 

A central government official involved in Covid-19 management said on condition of anonymity, “our top focus is to ensure full coverage of people in the 15-18 years category. We have 80% coverage for the first dose in this category, and 17% for the second dose."

“In the coming days, we plan to improve the vaccine coverage in this category and also among the adults," he added.

Additionally, they said there’s no scientific data or guidance by the World Health Organization that says a booster dose for all adults is necessary. While the US and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has recommended booster dose for all adults, Canada will give booster shots of mRNA vaccines only for those who are immuno-compromised. 

Meanwhile, a cumulative of 172.81 crore doses of vaccines have been administered in India as on February 13. This includes 90 crore first doses and 73 crore second doses to the adult population. For adolescents between 15-18 years of age, 5.2 crore first dose and 1.5 second doses have been administered. There is no immediate plan to open up booster doses for the entire adult population, officials said.

“But if and when it is done, the government will track each vaccine dose and the inoculation process will be covered through the CoWIN app," said another official, also declining to be named. “It’s not that anyone can buy off the shelf and administer the vaccine." Similarly, there is still no clear scientific data or a suggestion from WHO to inoculate children against Covid-19, the officials said. An administrator pointed out that the US drug regulator has deferred a plan to vaccinate children between 6 months and 4 years for at least two months and sought more data.

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Published: 14 Feb 2022, 07:28 AM IST
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