Centre rules out booster dose even as study shows drop in antibodies of vaccinated persons

Even as a study showed a drop in antibodies of vaccinated persons, the Centre affirmed that administering the booster dose was not under consideration at present. Conducted by ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, this research entailed 614 fully vaccinated participants out of which 308 got Covishield and the remaining ones got Covaxin. The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study revealed that there was a significant decline of antibodies in Covaxin and Covishield recipients two and 4 months after taking the second dose of the vaccine respectively. 

Weighing in on this study, ICMR Director General Dr.Balram Bhargava remarked, "Booster doses are not the central theme at the moment in the scientific discussion as well as the healthcare discussion. Getting a full vaccination of two doses remains a major priority. Several agencies have recommended that antibody levels should not be measured because you can have antibody, cellular and mucosal immunity that persists. Therefore, these are piecemeal studies. Several of them are available from different parts of the world but the important understanding is that the full vaccination of both doses is absolutely essential."

Interestingly, a previous ICMR study had indicated that persons who have been previously infected with COVID-19 might need to take only a single dose of Covaxin. In this research, blood samples were collected from 114 healthcare professionals and frontline workers who received Covaxin at vaccination centres in Chennai from February to May this year. It found that the participants who had contracted the novel coronavirus in the past and taken one dose had similar antibody levels to those who were fully inoculated without a history of COVID-19.

COVID-19 vaccination in India

Apart from Covishield and Covaxin, the Drugs Controller General of India has approved Sputnik V, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine, and Zydus Cadila's ZyCoV-D. From June 21 onwards, the Centre started procuring 75% of the vaccine stock and distributing it to the states for free. The vaccination drive is gaining pace with more than 180 million jabs being administered in August which is more than all G7 nations put together.  A total of 58,31,49,818 persons have been inoculated whereas 18,86,40,842 of them have received the second dose of the vaccine too.

A week earlier, Dr Bhargava announced that the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines available in India in preventing death after two doses is 97.5 per cent. Moreover, he mentioned that an analysis of vaccination data from April 18 to August 15 had also shown that even one dose of the vaccine is 96.6% effective in averting mortality. The vaccine effectiveness has been amply demonstrated across three age groups-18-44, 45-59 and above 60.