Come March second week, options will be available for vaccine booster shots as the Health Ministry is likely to roll out mix-and-match for the third dose, according to government sources. Currently, as per Ministry guidelines, only the same dose can be taken as a third dose, also known as precautionary dose. The government is also planning to encourage development of booster doses specifically for Omicron as it spreads very fast.
According to highly-placed sources, all vaccines which are available in the country — including Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik Light, Corbevax and ZyCov-D — will be available as a third dose depending upon their availability. However, currently it is not clear whether this will be mandatory or not.
“People will have a choice to take the third dose of their choice. Those who want to go for mix-and-match will get the benefits of a different vaccine,” a government source said. When asked about the safety concerns, the source added that in the short term, it doesn’t seem that there can be adverse effects; the Indian Council of Medical Research had done a study on safety concerns of mixed doses of vaccines in Uttar Pradesh when some people were mistakenly administered two shots of different vaccines. Howere, he also said that nothing can be said about long term effects when it comes to mixing of vaccines.
The government is considering a booster dose policy for those under 60 years of age with comorbidities. VK Paul Member — Health, NITI Aayog, while talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event on Friday also did not rule out the possibility for booster dose and vaccination of children below 12 years of age. He said that the decision will be taken based on emerging scientific evidence.
So far, according to the government, more than 96 per cent of the adult population has been inoculated with the first dose and 78 per cent has been fully vaccinated. More than 1.61 crore beneficiaries have been immunised with the precautionary dose. More than 69 per cent of adolescents in the 15-18 age set have received their first dose and over 14 per cent have got their second shot as well.
Pfizer and Moderna
Health Minister Mansuk Mandaviya on Friday clarified that the government tried its best to bring Pfizer and Moderna into the country but could’t given in to their demands for indemnity clause.
“We tried our best to bring Moderna and Pfizer here, but they did not agree on giving up indemnity demands which further strengthened our resolve to make our own vaccines,” Mandaviya said. He added that PM Modi, since the beginning of the Covid pandemic, had talked about manufacturing indigenous vaccines.
On Friday, till 7:00 pm, India administered more than 32 lakh vaccines aggregating to nearly 175 crore jabs since the vaccination program began in January last year.
Published on
February 18, 2022
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