The government plans to open up covid-19 booster doses to all adults, marking a dramatic scale-up in the vaccine’s roll-out that will make tens of millions more eligible for the precautionary jabs, government officials aware of the development said.
Currently, only healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 60 years are eligible to receive the precautionary dose.
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The expansion in the roll-out will mean anyone who is 18 years or older will be eligible.
So far, 21.7 million people have received their booster doses. Under the nationwide vaccination drive, India has administered more than 1.81 billion doses so far.
“Talks are on to consider all adults under the ambit of precaution or booster dose. However, the final decision is yet to be taken," a senior government official said, requesting anonymity.
Queries emailed to the spokesperson for the health ministry on Monday remained unanswered at press time.
On 3 March, the health ministry’s scientific committee authorized boosters for everyone above 60 years of age.
Previously only older people with co-morbidities were allowed to take the booster dose.
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This comes when the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation has recommended reducing the gap between the first and second doses of Covishield vaccine to 8-16 weeks from 12-16 weeks. Vaccination was opened up for 12–14-year-old children from 16 March.
Experts said booster doses are a necessity.
“All individuals above 15 years of age should be made eligible for a booster dose. There are some international studies that show that even if one is fully vaccinated, after 5-6 months, the antibodies tend to reduce. Booster doses are meant for greater prevention and to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death. A booster dose gives 95% protection against infections and hospitalization, and 98% protection against death," said Dr. Sanjeev Bagai, chairman of Nephron clinics.
According to the health ministry, 4.35 million healthcare workers, 6.66 million frontline workers, and 10 million elderly have received booster doses.
The central government has provided about 1.83 billion vaccine doses to states and Union territories, while more than 172 million are unutilized and still available with them.
India has reported more than 43 million covid cases and 517,000 deaths to date. Currently, the country is witnessing a declining trend of new covid cases, with 1,549 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. The active number of cases has come down to 25,000.
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