A medic sorts vials of COVID-19 vaccines at a government vaccination centre in Bengaluru, November 30, 2021. Photo: PTI/Shailendra Bhojak
New Delhi: The Union government said on December 17, as it has said before, that it remains unconvinced of the imminent need for booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines for any group of the Indian population.
Addressing a press conference at the National Media Centre here, government officials claimed an adequate number of vaccine doses were available and thus availability hasn’t guided any decisions on boosters.
A few studies, like a small one conducted by researchers of the UK Health Security Agency, and an assessment by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have advocated the large-scale use of booster doses on the basis of preliminary indications that antibodies generated by two doses of extant COVID-19 vaccines seemingly failed to ‘neutralise’ the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus inside the body.
Even WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had said on December 14 that the health body wasn’t opposed to boosters per se as long as they were restricted to immunocompromised people and the elderly. Ghebreyesus said that the WHO was opposed to booster doses for entire populations.
In her interview to The Wire Science last week, virologist Gagandeep Kang had echoed this view – that the Indian government should consider rolling out booster doses for immunocompromised people, those aged 60 years and above and for healthcare workers. The Indian Medical Association has also called for booster doses for healthcare workers.
However, addressing the media on December 17, Vinod K. Paul, the head of India’s National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19, said, “We will use the option [of administering booster shots] only at an appropriate time. The first and foremost goal is to complete primary vaccination of all eligible adults.”
He added that the scientists consulting for the government on the matter are going through the relevant data.
The UK study and the ECDC assessment had said that two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine had a higher efficacy if they were followed by a booster shot of an mRNA vaccine. However, Indian Council of Medical Research director-general Balram Bhargava attempted to downplay the importance of mRNA vaccines in India at the December 17 press meet.
“mRNA vaccines generate a higher volume of antibodies than the vaccines which are being currently used in India, but the fall in the antibodies level is also faster in case of mRNA vaccines,” he said.
However, he didn’t cite any studies or other sources for his claim, even as virologists Shahid Jameel and Kang disagreed with his conclusion. Both of them said mRNA vaccines produce antibodies more than vaccines based on other platforms, to begin with. So if antibodies induced by mRNA vaccines were to drop, their absolute volume would still be high – likely higher than those induced by other vaccines.
Bhargava may have sought to downplay the importance of mRNA vaccines because the Indian government approved the use of Moderna’s vaccine in June this year, whereas a single dose is yet to land in the country.
Officials at the presser said India has thus far registered 101 cases of the omicron variant. The highest number of cases have been found reported from Maharashtra (32), followed by Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17), Karnataka (8), Telangana (8), Gujarat (5), Kerala (5), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).
A not insubstantial number of people with infections of the omicron variant, especially from Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka, have reported no recent international travel. This is a sign that this variant has started to spread locally.
However, joint secretary in the Union health ministry Lav Agarwal denied a straight answer to a question on this point, saying, “Most cases have a travel history. Only one-odd don’t have (sic). Therefore, it is too early to say.” He didn’t share any other information.
Nonetheless, the officials present at the presser issued a plea to the country’s people to avoid any unnecessary domestic travel – probably for the first time since the second COVID-19 outbreak subsided around May this year. They also asked people to get themselves tested at the first appearance of any telltale symptoms.
Paul said the pandemic is evolving in an “unexpected manner” and that there was no guarantee at the moment to believe India could be ‘insulated’ from future surges of infections. He also said no modelling exercises undertaken thus far about India’s epidemic are currently valid.
Agarwal also said people should prefer virtual celebrations over physical ones. “If at all a gathering is to be done physically, COVID-appropriate behaviour must be strictly followed,” he said.