CONFIDENCE BOOSTER

The launch of the booster shot campaign and new vaccines give hope that the impact of Omicron and the third wave will be less severe than the previous surge

- AMARNATH K. MENON

Call it a booster or precaution dose, but with the launch of its latest vaccination programme on January 10, India continues its battle against Covid-19. And it couldn’t have started any sooner, for the highly contagious Omicron variant is driving up the number of cases in the pandemic’s third wave. Close to 57.5 million people are eligible for the third shot, among them 27.5 million people above the age of 60, 10 million healthcare workers and 20 million frontline personnel. Eligibility can be checked on CoWIN, and a prior consultation with doctors is advisable. That done, all one needs is a mobile number or an identity card to take the third shot. A booster dose is meant to elicit a robust antibody response. However, while the Government of India approved ‘prevention’ doses are vital for the vulnerable, virologists and other medical researchers also believe it is crucial to assess the cross-immunity generated by mixing available vaccines. They recommend that safety profiles be well established before administering different vaccines as prevention doses.

Apart from Covishield and Covaxin, seven other vaccines, including an mRNA vaccine that is easier to produce and quick to launch, have been approved. The mandatory two doses are expected to be given to all in the country in the next 4-5 months. The vaccines seem remarkably effective against all variants in preventing hospitalisation and saving lives. But long-term data on their use is not available yet. The vaccines have been approved on ‘reasonable basis’ on information available in little over a year with Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA).