Will Indians need Covid-19 booster dose? What SII chairman Cyrus Poonawalla says
1 min read . Updated: 18 Aug 2021, 11:09 AM IST
PremiumSII chairman Cyrus Poonawalla said that he, along with 7000 SII employees, had already taken the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield
Serum Institute of India (SII) chairman Cyrus Poonawalla has said that taking a third or `booster dose' of Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by his firm was desirable, news agency PTI reported.
He also said that he, along with 7000 SII employees, had already taken the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine Covishield.
"After six months, the antibodies go down and that is why I have taken the third dose. We have given the third dose to our seven to eight thousand SII employees. For those who have completed the second dose, it is my request to take a booster dose (third dose) after six months," Poonawalla was speaking in Pune after receiving the Lokmanya Tilak award.
He also said that the ideal gap between two doses of Covishield should be two months. “The ideal gap between two doses of Covishield is two months though the Union government increased it to three months because of dose shortage," he said.
Meanwhile, Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor at Christian Medical College Vellore said that there is no data that shows a need for booster vaccines presently in India.
"In India (and elsewhere), we do not have any data showing that anyone who has received two doses of vaccine needs booster vaccines at this time," ANI quoted Dr Kang as saying.
Meanwhile, a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is not currently authorized for broad use in the US. However, under the current amended Emergency Use Authorization, it has been authorized on August 12 for administration to individuals at least 12 years of age who have undergone solid organ transplantation, or who are diagnosed with conditions that are considered to have an equivalent level of immunocompromised.
