oppn parties The Need For The Third Covid Dose

News Snippets

  • For the first time ever, Mukesh Ambani buys a 29% stake in Gautam Adani's Mahan Energen, a subsidiary of Adani Power to source 500MW of electricity from the company's power plant in MP
  • Stocks continue to rise on Thursday - Sensex gains 639 points to 73635 and Nifty 203 points to 22326
  • Golf - Indian Open: 3 Indians at tied 14th as Joost Luiten takes the lead with a wonderful 7-under 65
  • IPL: RR beat DC by 12 runs as Riyan Parag (84 off just 45 balls) shines
  • SP drops two candidates owing allegiance to Azam Khan from Rampur and Moradabad
  • In Assam, a controversy erupted after a picture of UPPL leader Benjamin Basumatary, lying on a stack of Rs 500 notes circulated on social media. UPPL is an ally of the BJP
  • AAP's Jalandhar-West MP Sushil Kumar Rinku joins the BJP. He was the only AAP Lok Sabha MP
  • Supreme Court dismisses Centre's plea to review its 2023 verdict in the PMLA case
  • Close save for passengers as they remain unhurt after the wings of two planes graze at Kolkata airport. Pilots derostered and inquiry ordered by DGCA
  • Bengal BJP leader Dilip Ghosh gets notice from the EC as well as the BJP for making ugly remarks about Mamata Banerjee's parentage
  • Sadanand Vasanth Date, who faught terrorists in the 26/11 attack and was awarded the Preisent's Police medal, has been appointed the head of the NIA
  • Centre will borrow Rs 7.5L cr in the first six months of FY25, nearly 50% of the target for the full year
  • 25 stocks, including SBI, will see same day trade settlements from today in the world's fastest settlement mode in both BSE and NSE
  • Stocks recover smartly on Wednesday: Sensex rises 526 points to 72996 and Nifty 118 points to 22123
  • Tennis: Rohan Bopanna-Matthew Ebden reached the semifinals of the Miami Open
Delhi Lt Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena says government cannot be run from jail, hints at President's Rule in the capital ////// In a dangerous incident, the wings of two planes grazed while taxiing on the runway at Kolkata airport, all passengers were safe but DGCA ordered an inquiry and the pilots were derostered
oppn parties
The Need For The Third Covid Dose

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-11-09 03:03:42

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

Although the world is now talking about booster dose of Covid vaccines to keep further spread in check, with less than 40% of the adult population fully vaccinated, regulators in India have not seriously pondered over the question even though doctors and frontline workers who were vaccinated more than 6 months ago have started raising a demand for the same.

With Covid not showing any signs of going away soon (even China is reporting new cases in large numbers and is sealing cities to prevent an outbreak) and with antibodies in those that were vaccinated very early showing signs of tapering off, the need for a booster dose is being felt all over the world.

Even if India has failed to achieve vaccination targets despite record performance, it does not mean that it should not pay any attention to the need for the booster dose. The danger for those doctors and frontline workers who were vaccinated very early is real. They are still vaccinating people and are coming in contact with Covid patients. Hence, it is required that a booster dose be given to them.

Vaccines have to be judged mainly on two parameters - the first is their efficacy in fighting the disease and the second is the duration for which the disease remains potent. Covid vaccines have proved their efficacy in the short run as vaccination with two doses has prevented serious outbreaks. But as Covid refuses to go away, the efficacy will reduce and people will need to be given the third dose.

India must draw up a plan where those who were vaccinated very early in the drive are given the third dose. This must happen even as others are being given the first and the second dose and later when kids are being vaccinated. All of them are important and must be carried out. Since there are no supply constraints now, the government must think about it. The cost will be a factor, but if third doses prevent a fresh outbreak, the cost should not matter. For, if an outbreak does happen by not giving the third dose, the achievements of the vaccination drive will be nullified.