INSACOG bats for booster dose for those above 40

“Vaccination of all remaining unvaccinated at-risk people and consideration of a booster dose for those 40 years of age and over, first targeting the most high-risk / high-exposure may be considered,” the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG) said in its weekly bulletin dated November 29.

The recommendation came amid demands for a booster dose of Covid vaccines by lawmakers during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the pandemic situation in the country. Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Friday said while there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, some of the mutations reported may decrease the efficacy of the jabs. It however underscored that definitive evidence for new variant’s increased remission and immune evasion is awaited.