Head of the Covid Panel, Dr NK Arora said one booster means 94 doses of crore.
New Delhi:
Dr NK Arora, chairman of the country’s Covid Task Force, told NDTV the country will come up with a comprehensive policy on additional Covid vaccine doses for immunocompromised people within the next two weeks. This policy will be developed by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization – along with another group on immunization of the country’s 44 children. “The prioritization process is underway, so children with comorbidities will be vaccinated first,” he said.
When asked about the booster dose of the vaccine for the elderly – currently being given in a number of countries – especially in light of the emergence of the new Covid variant Omicron, Mr. Arora said a booster dose makes sense. is 94 doses “which by itself can’t be. taken overnight”.
However, he insists that there is no shortage of dosage in the water.
Pointing out that even now, 12 to 15 Indians have not received a single dose of the vaccine and 30 Indians have not received a second dose, he said that the need of the hour is to step up the vaccination of the population. them, it is “the most important thing. and the tool is valid and completed on a priority basis”.
Also, in view of the new variant, it is essential to see how it outperforms the existing vaccines, of which India has a large amount.
In addition, one needs to take into account the epidemiological condition of a country, which is unique, he said.
“We are looking forward to the next two weeks or so, where laboratories across the country, some of which are our own, are working on the effectiveness of the immune response generated. because our current vaccines, Covaxin, Covishield and others have (new variants) of the virus and the degree to which virus neutralization takes place,” he said.
India has yet to report any cases of Omicron, which recently emerged in South Africa. Suspicious cases have been reported from several other countries.
Two South African nationals who traveled to Bengaluru tested positive for Covid earlier this month. One of them was found to be infected with the Delta strain.
Karnataka Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said the other had tested positive for a Covid strain “different from Delta”, adding that the test samples had been sent for sequencing. genes and further tests. The state government is closely looking at the Omicron strain, he said.
Earlier, yesterday, Dr Samiran Panda, head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), told NDTV that it is possible that Omicron – a highly infectious variant – was present. present in India and may be a matter of time before that. detected.
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