With Omicron BA.2 surging in pockets of Asia and Europe and international travel becoming difficult for Indians, the Government is considering making all adults above 18 years eligible for booster doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.
At present, only frontline workers and those older than 60 are allowed to take booster doses, whether free in Government centres or paid for in private hospitals.
The Government is debating whether to provide boosters to other groups for free, said sources in the Union Health Ministry.
Last week the Centre had alerted the States to take precautionary measures in a bid to avert Covid fourth wave. Maharashtra, which was the worst affected State during the previous coronavirus surges, is already on alert. This comes at a time when a team of IIT Kanpur team has suggested that India could witness the fourth Covid wave in June, to peak in August.
The World Health Organization too has warned the public not to be complacent as the increasing cases reported from world over are just the “tip of the iceberg”.
The IIT Kanpur study had said its analysis will be deeply impacted by how and when the next variant arrives. Of the 1.81 billion vaccine doses distributed among the population of about 1.4 billion, more than 20 million are boosters.
One of India’s top virologists, T Jacob John, has favoured booster dose saying completing a full Covid immunisation schedule of two primary doses followed by a booster dose is absolutely crucial. “It is not the end of coronavirus, nor is it in the pandemic state. Immunisation schedule must be completed by all individuals if we have to win this war against Covid,” John said at an event held here recently during the release of his book titled “Polio: The Eradication Imbroglio”.
Founder-chairman of Bharat Biotech, Krishna Ella, was also present at the event.
Infections in India have fallen to their lowest in more than a year, however, 1,549 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours and 31 deaths.