COVID-19: Booster shots recommended in US and Europe, what is Indias position?

The US Centre for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle P. Walensky on Friday recommended booster shots for COVID-19 to all adults who are 18 years and older. This means adults
who received either a dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines are eligible to
get a booster dose at least six months after their second dose.

So far approximately 47 million adults in
the US are not vaccinated, as per CDC estimate.

However, the US is not the only country
that is considering booster shots for its citizens to counter rising
coronavirus cases despite the World Health Organisation (WHO) urging countries not to administer booster shots. Apart from the US, Canada is planning to recommend booster shots for
those people whose immune system is not strong enough to fight the COVID-19
despite taking both shots. A similar recommendation was made by the European
Union’s (EU) drug regulator in October.

On the other hand, countries like UK,
Austria, Germany, Italy and Turkey have already started offering booster shots
to all adults. Sweden and Spain have decided to offer the shots to the elderly
as well as those who are immuno-suppressed.

Israel and South Korea in Asia and Brazil,
Chile and Uruguay in South America are also administering booster shots.

On November 18, about 12 per cent of the
COVID-19 vaccinations administered globally were booster shots. As of now,
Israel, Chile and Uruguay have administered the highest number of booster shots per 100 people.

What is India’s position?

In India, till the time of writing this
report, there is no communication about booster shots. On Friday, India
reported 10,302 fresh COVID-19 infections, 7.2% lower than Thursday. The
country’s cumulative caseload declined to 3,44,99,925, of which total recoveries
were at 3,39,09,708 across the country. A total of 11,787 patients recovered in
the last 24 hours. The recovery rate is now at 98.29 per cent.

India’s active caseload stands at 1,24,868.
In the last 24 hours, active cases decline by 1,752. India so far administered
1.15 billion anti-COVID-19 vaccines since January 16 this year.