COVID-19 booster shots not necessary in India at this stage, claim experts

It needs to be evaluated if booster shots will deliver the COVID immunity boost that India seeks. Maybe in an ideal world when everyone is completely vaccinated, but not when fewer than a quarter of the adult population has received both doses, said, experts. As the global discussion over booster injections heats up, numerous scientists here say the priority must be to guarantee that more individuals receive at least their first dose. According to immunologist Satyajit Rath, less than 15% of Indian adults have received two doses of the vaccine, implying that not all Indians “who are more vulnerable to infection” have received two doses.

"I therefore think that it is ethically premature to begin planning a third dose to a fortunate category of people at this stage," said Rath, from New Delhi's National Institute of Immunology (NII). He noted, "It is also pragmatically premature to do so, since we have no really clear idea of who is 'more vulnerable to infection'. We do know that some co-morbid categories are more vulnerable to serious illness, but two doses of the current vaccines currently protect quite well against that."

Immunologist Vineeta Bal agreed, stating that India should not consider delivering booster doses at this time because roughly 40% of the eligible population has yet to receive the first dosage. She believes that vulnerable persons, such as those with co-morbidities, should be evaluated for more shots on a "case-by-case" basis. "…but it has to be remembered that additional shots do not cover specific variants, which are supposed to be more ‘dangerous’," Bal, guest faculty at Pune's Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, noted. "Hence the utility of an additional shot will be limited in terms of expanding immunity," she argued.

COVID-19 vaccines in India

Although India has not yet distributed the third dose, there are allegations that some healthcare personnel and politicians in Mumbai have received a booster shot. Balram Bhargava, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), stated earlier this week that a booster dose is not the main focus at the time and that achieving two doses remains the top objective.

According to data on the co-WIN webpage, India administered a record 2.5 crore COVID-19 vaccination doses on Friday, bringing the total number of doses administered across the country to 79.33 crores. According to official statistics, an estimated 63% of India's adult population has received their first dosage, and 21% are fully vaccinated due to this.

Rath claims that the current COVID vaccinations in use worldwide are still quite efficient at protecting against major sickness or death from the infection, even without booster doses. According to researcher Naga Suresh Veerapu, identifying demographic groups having an elevated risk of illnesses within a completely vaccinated population is crucial to reduce the fatality rate. 

COVID-19 vaccines ahead of predicted COVID third wave

According to the associate professor, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences (SNS), Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR, the reasons for booster doses may differ depending on the population groups at risk, type of vaccine, waning immunity, variants of concern, and clinical and epidemiological settings. There is a case that can be made for booster shots if governments have the resources to provide them. Concerns about decreasing protection afforded by vaccines and the emergence of COVID variations, particularly the Delta strain, have emphasised the necessity.

According to a recent study conducted by the ICMR-regional medical research centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, the amount of antibodies produced among Covaxin recipients begins to diminish after two months. In contrast, the same for those vaccinated with Covishield starts after three months. Many other vaccines have produced similar effects around the world. Pfizer and Moderna both stated earlier this week that vaccine protection can fade over time.

An expert study published this week in The Lancet concluded that vaccination efficacy against severe COVID-19, even for the Delta variant, is so high that booster doses for the general population are unnecessary at this time in the pandemic. This could be because protection against severe disease is provided by antibody responses, which may be relatively short-lived for some vaccinations, and by memory responses and cell-mediated immunity, which are often longer-lived. Many countries across the world have already launched COVID-19 boosters.

(with inputs from PTI)

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