Booster dose: The number of cases of the Omicron Covid strain has surpassed 400 in India.
New Delhi:
Senior Health Ministry sources said no combination of vaccines for the crucial third dose would be given as the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the country.
Precautionary dose would be the third dose of the same vaccine a person has received – be it Covishield or Covaxin. The key aspect will be the gap – the third dose will be given 9-12 months after the second dose for healthcare workers and frontline workers as well as older adults with comorbidities, the sources said.
Experts will meet today to outline the process of implementing preventive doses, which will be implemented starting January 10.
There has been considerable debate worldwide as to whether mixing vaccines or administering the same vaccine for a third dose provides better protection. Although specific data from both have not yet been provided for booster doses, mixing the vaccine for the first and second doses is thought to trigger a stronger immune response.
According to results on Monday, a pivotal UK study on COVID-19 vaccine mixing found that people had a better immune response when they were given doses of AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech first, followed by Moderna nine weeks later, according to Monday’s results.
“We found a really good immune response …, in fact, well above the regulatory threshold for two doses of the Oxford vaccine,” said Matthew Snape, the Oxford professor behind the trial. -AstraZeneca”.
Recent studies at the UK’s University of Oxford showed that the third dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine – known as Covishield in India and accounting for almost 90% of the dose used in the country – significantly enhanced the dose. including neutralizing antibodies against Omicron.
Research has also shown that immunity from the two doses currently being given begins to wane after three months.
In this regard, a section of doctors and the Indian Medical Association have repeatedly asked the government to provide additional doses for frontline health workers and people with weak or compromised immunity. .
The number of cases of the fast-spreading variant of Omicron has surpassed 400 in India, with Maharashtra reporting the maximum number of infections.
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