Centre unlikely to procure more Covid vaccine jabs

Studies have shown that immunity gained from a vaccine shot typically wanes in four to six months . According to government’s Cowin dashboard, only 223 million persons have taken the booster shot dose.

With demand for the booster , or third dose of Covid vaccines not picking up, the Union government is unlikely to procure more Covid vaccine doses right now, people familiar with the matter.

A beneficiary receives a booster dose of the Covid-19 vaccine in Srinagar. (ANI)

“As of now there is no plan to purchase more vaccine doses as there has not been much increase in demand across the country. Despite the China scare, not many of those eligible to take their third dose have come forward to get it,” said a senior central government official, requesting anonymity.

“We are currently waiting and watching; if there is an increase in demand in future then the option of buying more is always there. For now, we are adequately stocked,” this person added.

Thus far, just around 28% of the people eligible to take their booster shots of the Covid vaccine dose have taken it.

Studies have shown that immunity gained from a vaccine shot typically wanes in four to six months . According to government’s Cowin dashboard, only 223 million persons have taken the booster shot dose.

The Centre opened up the third dose of Covid-19 vaccine for health care and front line workers, and people aged 60 and above with comorbidities on advice of their doctor from January 10 last year. It was opened to all adults from April 10.

The government is pushing to increase coverage of the first booster shot and even undertook several measures to encourage people to take the third dose. In July, the health ministry launched a campaign under which the booster third dose was provided free for 75 days at government clinics, commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence. India started administering boosters in January 2022, which means the first recipients received their latest Covid-19 vaccine dose a year ago.

As per the current third dose demand, there is enough vaccine inventory too meet any increase in the rate of vaccination, said the government officials, requesting anonymity. According to the officials, there are as many as 16 million vaccine doses available at the moment.

While the government is looking at ways to increase coverage of the booster dose, its expert panel on immunization is also considering the merits of a second booster dose against the backdrop of a rising wave of infections around the world, even though there has been no surge in the country.

Studies have also shown that a fourth shot does help stave off severe illness, although experts are now recommending bivalent shots (which have been tweaked to act on more recent variants of the virus) as a fourth booster. To be sure, there is no bivalent version of Covishield, the vaccine most Indians have been administered, in the works.

“The focus at the moment is on increasing the third vaccine dose coverage,” said the official cited above.