COVID Vaccine Booster: Now, INSACOG Says More Experiments Needed To Assess Impact

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New Delhi: In what can be construed by the public as confusing signals, India’s top genome sequencing laboratories have now said that many more scientific experiments are required to assess the impact of COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

In its bulletin dated November 29, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) had recommended that a booster dose may be considered for those aged 40 and above, with priority to the most high-risk/high-exposure section of population.

But in the bulletin issued on Saturday, INSACOG said the mention of booster dose in its previous bulletin was merely a “discussion about the potential role of additional dose of COVID-19 vaccines in high-risk populations”.

“Many more scientific experiments are needed to assess the impacts of booster dose, which are being guided and monitored by National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC),” the INSACOG said on December 4.

INSACOG also clarified that recommendations and suggestions regarding vaccines, schedule and roll-out came under the expressed mandate of NTAGI and NEGVAC.

Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in the Lok Sabha on Friday that the focus of vaccination drive would be on the second dose, and that a decision on booster dose and vaccine for kids will be taken on the basis of scientific advice.