No Consensus Or Final Recommendation By NTAGI On Additional Covid Vaccine Dose, Inoculation Of Kids

The issue of administering an additional dose of vaccine to immunocompromised individuals and vaccination of children against COVID-19 were deliberated upon in the meeting of NTAGI

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New Delhi: A meeting was held by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) on Monday to discuss the issues of administering an 'additional' dose of Covid-19 vaccine to immunocompromised individuals and inoculation of children. However, no decision could be made by the members and no final recommendation has been made on this issue, reported PTI. 

Immunocompromised individuals are those who have a very weak immune system. A decision was to be made to administer an 'Additional' dose of Covid vaccine. 

"The issue of administering an additional dose of COVID-19 to immunocompromised and immunosuppressed individuals and vaccination of children against COVID-19 were deliberated upon in the meeting of NTAGI," an official was quoted on PTI. 

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The report also said the issue of booster dose was not on the agenda of the meeting as studies need to be conducted to understand its need and value. It has to be noted that, an additional dose of a vaccine is different from a booster dose.

Those who come under the immunocompromised and immunosuppressed categories are usually Cancer patients who are on therapy, transplants patients and AIDS patients. These patients require an additional dose of vaccine for better protection. 

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Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had recently informed the Lok Sabha about issues relating to the administration of booster doses. He informed the Lok Sabha that scientific pieces of evidence related to this aspect were being deliberated upon and considered by the NTAGI and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC).

The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), in its bulletin dated November 29, recommended a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines for people above 40 years of age. INSACOG noted that preference should be given to high-risk and high-exposure populations.