On Boosters, Covid Panel Chief Says Israel, Europe Models Not For India

Dr NK Arora, chairman of Covid Task Force, to NDTV: By the time the second wave of Covid began ebbing, ''67 per cent of people were showing evidence of infection - natural infection.''

The doctor heading India's vaccine rollout today defended the decision to delay a rollout of booster doses in the country. ''What is true for Israel, for Europe or North America may not be truly applicable here,'' said Dr. NK Arora who heads India's vaccine task force.

By the time the second wave of Covid began ebbing, ''67 per cent of people were showing evidence of infection - natural infection.'' What's more, data from October indicates that between 80-85% of India's population, including children, ''are showing infection which means natural infection because adults have received vaccines.'' This means that ''a very large proportion of our population has already contracted [the] infection.'' The ongoing process of vaccination continues to provide additional protection to Indian citizens.

Evidence of the extent of immunity prevalent in India became clear when ''the number of cases declined despite festivals'' when large gatherings frequently broke Covid discipline across the country during Diwali and Dussehra.

A decision on 94 crore booster doses is also ''not something that can be done overnight'' and should not be based on a panic reaction around the arrival of the new Omicron strain of Covid which has recently come to light. ''We are waiting for the next two weeks or so when labs across the country, including some of our own labs, are working on the effectiveness of immune response elicited by current vaccines'' to the new Covid strain.