As COVID-19 cases register an uptick in India, a look at the vaccine stock position Premium

Latest updates on Covid-19 in India and Southeast Asia, including vaccination status, variants, and expert advice on booster doses.

Over the past few weeks, headlines around India and Southeast Asia have centered around a virus that the world has wanted to forget: Covid-19. At first, an uptick in cases in Hong Kong, Singapore and other parts of the region caused concern. Gradually though, India too, witnessed a surge in cases, with numbers as of Thursday, June 5, standing at 4,866, and fatalities at 51.

Doctors and experts have said time and again that there is no reason to panic – spikes and dips in Covid-19 cases are expected; the virus they say, is co-circulating with other seasonal infections and no major waves are expected. Misinformation in fact, is harder to battle, they point out. 

Residents however, are raising questions about the Covid-19 vaccines: it may be recalled that India launched the world’s largest Covid-19 immunisation drive in January 2021. To date over 220 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered in the country as per the Co-WIN dashboard. These were primarily of the two vaccines available then, AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

Also Read: Readiness, not panic: On India and COVID-19

Rajiv Bahl, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country’s nodal scientific body, has said there is absolutely no need to initiate mass booster doses for Covid-19 vaccination at present, and neither is there a direction from the Central government for this. Speaking about the rising number of Covid-19 cases in India, Dr. Bahl however noted that individual doctors could recommend booster doses to patients on a case-to-case basis, depending on the needs of individuals. 

He further explained that the need for mass vaccination, while not felt at present, could arise, with perhaps a mutation in the virus or its spread. “For that, India already has the capacity to scale up production and provide for the general public. We have done this before and there is no need to panic,” he said, reiterating that as of now there was no need for individuals to rush in to get a booster vaccine. 

Since vaccines used in 2021 and 2022 have now fallen into disuse and expired, there are no stocks at present, a government official said, adding however that the government could direct manufacturers to produce more stocks as and when necessary. Most States, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal have no stocks or supplies of the vaccine at present either in the government or private sector.