Covid Vaccine Booster Dose For Those Above 40: Top Indian Genome Scientists Recommend

The recommendation was made in the weekly bulletin of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG).

The Serum Institute of India (SII) had earlier sought approval from the country’s drug regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Covishield as a booster dose (File)

New Delhi: Amid fear of the new coronavirus variant Omicron, foremost genome scientists have recommended a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines for those above 40 years in India.

The recommendation was made in the weekly bulletin of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG).

“Vaccination of all remaining unvaccinated at-risk people and consideration of a booster dose for those 40 years of age and over, first targeting the most high-risk / high-exposure maybe considered, since low levels of neutralizing antibodies from current vaccines are unlikely to be sufficient to neutralize Omicron, although the risk of severe disease is still likely to be reduced,” the INSACOG bulletin issued earlier on November 29 said.

A booster shot is an additional dose of vaccine given to the people, who have received the original shots to maintain a high level of immunity after the immunity provided by the original jabs begins to decline.

The INSACOG, which releases weekly updates through its bulletin regarding the updates of its findings, has also emphasized the importance of genomic surveillance for early detection of the Omicron variant.

The Serum Institute of India (SII) had earlier sought approval from the country’s drug regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Covishield as a booster dose owing to its adequate availability.

A study published by the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, last week informed how Covishield provided only 63 percent protection against the symptomatic variants of the virus.

Another study in Israel found out that public immunity dropped in six months after getting two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. have approved booster doses for all adults just six months after the intake of their second dose.

This is, however, the first time that an advisory body in India has talked about booster shots.