May need Covid vaccine booster shots: AIIMS chief – ET HealthWorld

New Delhi : With various mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 emerging in the near future, there might be a need for the country to adopt a booster dose with second-generation Covid-19 vaccines, said All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) chief Dr Randeep Guleria.

“It seems that we probably need the booster dose of vaccines as with the passage of time the immunity tends to fall. There is waning immunity. We would like to have booster dose that will cover for various emerging variants,” Dr Guleria said .

He further stated that the booster dose will be a second-generation vaccine.

“We will have second-generation vaccines which would be better in terms of the immunity they give, covering of the new variants and a having a better overall efficacy. Trails of booster vaccine shots are already going on. You will probably need a booster dose till the end of this year. But that’s only once the population is vaccinated, then the next step will be to administer a booster dose,” Dr Guleria said.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin trials for children are presently underway and the results are expected to be released by September, the AIIMS director informed.

“The vaccines for children should come out now because trials in India are already there in the vaccines which are available in India, Bharat Biotech trial is in the final phase by September we will have the data,” he said.

The trial is conducted in three phases by segregating children into categories according to their age. The first trial was started in the age group of 12-18 years followed by the age group of 6-12 years and 2-6 years which are currently undergoing trials.

He further said that Zydus Cadila has included the data for children for their Covid-19 vaccine. “Zydus Cadila vaccine has also included children and their data is already there. They have already applied for the emergency use authorization,” he said.