oppn parties Giving Booster Dose Must Be Hastened

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  • Allahabad HC said that the UP Police is acting as law unto themselves as they detained a person unlawfully even before his arrest
  • Kolkata witnesses traffic snarls on the first day of the Durga Puja festival as revellers start pnadal-hopping
  • Neha Bora was subsequently released and Dipke is to appear before a magistrate today at noon
  • Delhi Police detained Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke, Neha Bora of AISA, student leaders and supporters ahead of a rally in Connaught Place demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's resignation. The protest followed the detention and jailing of two CJP leaders earlier in the week over demonstrations at Jantar Mantar
  • The Reserve Bank of India is considering further monetary tightening to counter capital outflows and increase the cost of betting against the rupee, according to bankers and analysts cited by Reuters. The measures follow recent rate increases and steps to drain liquidity as pressure on the currency and inflation concerns persist
  • India directed oil marketing companies to stop diverting sugar-based feedstocks for ethanol production in the 2026–27 supply year, according to a new tender issued on Friday. The companies have invited bids for 11 billion litres of ethanol made from alternatives including corn and broken rice, amid concerns about domestic sugar supplies and prices
  • Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said India's trade imbalance with China was growing sharply and attributed the problem partly to restrictions on Indian goods and services entering the Chinese market. China subsequently said it was ready to work with India to address mutual economic and trade concerns; India's trade deficit with China reached $69 billion in the first half of FY2026–27, up 27% year-on-year
  • Indian equity benchmarks extended their recovery on Friday, with the Sensex rising 413.66 points to close at 74,729.27 and the Nifty 50 gaining 148.80 points to settle at 23,146.15. Information technology shares, including Tech Mahindra, Infosys and TCS, helped lift the indices
  • India defeated Zimbabwe by four wickets in the opening women's T20 International in Raipur, taking a 1–0 lead in the three-match series. Deepti Sharma and Niki Prasad combined in an 82-run stand after India's top order collapsed, helping the hosts chase down Zimbabwe's total of 114 for five
  • Indian wrestler Komal won bronze in the women's 59 kg category at the Under-23 World Wrestling Championships in Las Vegas, defeating Kazakhstan's Viktoriia Khusainova 7–2. Fellow Indian Amruta Pujari advanced to the women's 72 kg final after recording two pinfall victories
  • Indian shuttler Jagsher Singh Khangurra secured a bronze medal at the BWF World Junior Badminton Championships in Cairo
  • The Supreme Court of India upheld the Bombay High Court's decision quashing the 2020 write-off of ₹8,415 crore in additional tier-1 bonds issued by Yes Bank (Yes Bank). The court ruled that the bank's administrator lacked the authority to extinguish the bonds under the final reconstruction scheme, strengthening bondholders' claims
  • The Supreme Court issued notices to the Election Commission of India, Delhi Police and opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in separate petitions concerning electoral-roll revision and protests held in Delhi on October 10–12. The court also directed the preservation of CCTV footage linked to allegations of police excesses
  • The Supreme Court ruled that a person converting from Hinduism to Islam cannot automatically claim backward-class reservation benefits in the new religious community solely on the basis of their previous caste status. The judgment upheld the Madras High Court's decision striking down a 2024 Tamil Nadu government order that permitted such certification for specified communities
  • The Election Commission of India ordered a Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls in 14 states and three Union Territories, using January 1, 2027, as the qualifying date for voter eligibility. The draft rolls are scheduled for publication on November 12, claims and objections will be accepted until December 11, and the final rolls are due on January 4, 2027
Delhi HC refuses to ban CJP's Tiranga rally at Central Park in Connaught Place today /////// Police says will control and regulate it /////// NDMC closes the park for the public on Friday and Saturday
oppn parties
Giving Booster Dose Must Be Hastened

By Our Editorial Team
First publised on 2022-03-19 05:33:03

About the Author

Sunil Garodia The India Commentary view

With a second Omicron wave making its appearance in China, south-east and East Asia and several European countries, the Centre has rightly sounded an alert and asked states to send samples for genome sequencing and maintain a vigil on clusters for greater disease surveillance. It has also started vaccinating kids between 12 and 14 from March 16 while doing away with the co-morbidity condition for booster dose for senior citizens.

Despite the fact that the surge is now happening in countries that have administered booster doses, vaccines still remain the best shield against serious, life-threatening infections. India will have to modify its vaccine policy to start giving booster doses to all adults in phases. Since the booster programme is now open to all senior citizens, it must be opened to those above 45 and then to those above 18 in the next couple of months.

It was mainly due to the fact that nearly 95% of adult Indians had received at least one dose of the vaccine that the third wave was not as destructive as the second (apart from the fact that Omicron is a milder variant). But most adults had taken the second dose 6 months ago and that means that their immunity levels have reduced. In India, only 1.4 booster doses per 100 people have been administered till now. Thus, it is urgent that the booster dose is administered fast.

Further, as per research carried out at CMC, Vellore, a mix-and-match strategy in giving booster doses works better. For instance, if those who have received two doses of Covaxin are now given Covishield as the booster dose, it shows a six-fold rise in anti-bodies. However, the same has not been found true to those who were given both doses of Covishield earlier. But since more than 80% persons in India were vaccinated with Covishield, this needs further study. Since the vaccine bouquet has grown, the mix-and-match study should be conducted using different permutations and combinations to find out the best booster dose.

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