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Corbevax booster dose to be available for adults from today
The official also said that the decision of whether all vaccination centres will have the provision of administering Corbevax or will it be limited to a few centres and later expanded will depend on state governments.
Adults who have taken Covishield or Covaxin as their primary coronavirus series vaccination will be able to take Corbevax as their boosters Friday onwards, senior officials of the health ministry said on Thursday, announcing that necessary changes to the Co-WIN dose scheduling system will take effect within the day.
Ministry officials said that states and union territories have also been directed to set up helpdesks at vaccination centres to ensure people coming in for their booster doses are given information about heterologous boosting. Separate inoculation rooms will also be set up for people opting for Corbevax, officials said.
“Whether a person wants to go ahead with their primary vaccine for precautionary dose or they want to opt for Corbevax will be their choice. We have introduced heterologous boosting as an option and it is not as mandatory. However, people will be given all the information in the vaccination sites so that they can make an informed decision,” said a senior health ministry official.
The official also said that the decision of whether all vaccination centres will have the provision of administering Corbevax or will it be limited to a few centres and later expanded will depend on state governments.
The Union health ministry on Wednesday approved the use of Biological E’s Cobevax as a precautionary dose for those above the age of 18 years fully vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin. With this, Corbevax has become the first in India to be approved as a heterologous Covid-19 booster.
In homologous boosting, a person is injected with the same vaccine used for the two previous doses. In heterologous boosting, the third dose is of a different vaccine. While India has allowed the mixing of vaccines only now, there have been several studies carried out in various parts of the world that have highlighted the possibility of better immunity with heterologous boosting.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Biological E. Ltd said that it has delivered over 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, Corbevax to the Centre so far. Before the government’s sanction for booster use, the BE vaccine was being used for inoculating children in the 12-14 years cohort.
Another ministry official said that the government is also “working towards expediting” recognition of Corbevax in foreign countries.
“People who are looking at travelling abroad will also be able to this as a booster without having to worry if it is recognised. Work is in progress in that direction,” said the official.
