Deliberating on booster doses of COVID vaccines: Centre to HC
The Hindu
‘Limited knowledge of duration of vaccine immunity’
The Centre has informed the Delhi High Court that the National Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (NTAGI) and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) are deliberating on the possible need and justification for booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in an affidavit, told the court that “the current knowledge about duration of immunity offered by COVID-19 vaccines in India is limited and will clearly be known over a period of time only”.
The Ministry submitted that the SARS CoV-2 infection and the resulting disease has impacted India since 2020 as a new infectious disease, complete biological characteristics of which are yet unknown and under such circumstances, the necessity of a booster dose of COVID vaccine is yet to be decided.