Do we take regular booster shots or not as Covid cases increase?


An increase of 40% in Covid-19 cases over one day in India should put the health administration on alert, but not in panic mode. This increase is driven by a new variant of the virus that is reportedly infectious but not virulent. While the health ministry has asked states to step up preparedness in hospitals, the big issue must be to ensure that the population continues to have high levels of immunity. The expert group needs to take a call on – and tell the citizenry – whether there is a need to introduce a regular booster shot protocol.

Preparedness to handle a spike in hospitalisation must become part of the standard operating procedure. The health administration must, drawing on expert analysis of genome-sequencing reports, provide up-to-date advisories to hospitals and other care centres. This would enable hospitals to take the requisite steps to provide the care needed. This must be an ongoing, not ad-hoc, exercise.

Mock drills, like the ones planned, are useful to ensure that advisories are not disregarded as routine. The administration must seek advice from experts on the booster regime. Some experts attribute the sudden spike in cases to the fact that the efficacy of booster shot, made part of the regime early last year, has waned.

That, along with the reduced number of infections, has meant that the population’s immunity – acquired either through vaccination or naturally – has reduced. There must be a decision, based on science, on whether the country now needs to move to a regular booster regime.

Meanwhile, governments at all levels need to focus on improving basic sanitation and cleanliness. This could help in preventing proliferation of other diseases, leaving people vulnerable to Covid and its long-term impacts.



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