Omicron no reason to rush booster decision: Experts

NEW DELHI: The government’s scientific advisory groups are considering a booster or

third dose of Covid vaccines

for those who are immunocompromised or people at high risk, including elderly, even as

new variant Omicron

is not as yet seen as a reason to speed up a decision on the third dose.

“The clinical picture emerging worldwide is that Omicron is causing only mild disease. Even a third dose will not prevent acquisition of Omicron. These vaccines do not prevent infections. They only reduce severity. So, those who have already received the vaccine, even if they get infected with Omicron, it will cause mild disease only. So, the argument that lower efficacy of vaccine caused mild disease does not hold true,” says Samiran Panda, Head of Epidemiology & Communicable Diseases at Indian Council of Medical Research (

ICMR

).

Live updates: Coronavirus pandemic

Anurag Agarwal, director, CSIR Institute Of Genomics and Integrative Biology, holds that boosters may help even as he suggests high-risk people receiving inactivated virus vaccines may be prioritised first. Other high-risk and high-exposure healthcare workers should be next, while ensuring the pool of fully vaccinated expands.



“The inherent transmissibility of Omicron is unknown because in today's world, there is enough immunity (infection, vaccine) that immune escape can explain most of the current advantage against Delta. However, it is likely to be high (transmissible) and comparable to

Delta

,” Agarwal said that even though there is high immunity post-Delta and vaccination, Omicron may still spread faster due to the changes in spike protein. This highlights the need to comply with

Covid-appropriate behaviour

.



The government’s primary focus at present remains faster delivery of second doses to reach a critical 80% coverage as that is paramount to prevent severe infection and deaths, even from Omicron, officials said.

Meanwhile, scientific advisory groups including ICMR and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation are exploring various options for additional doses.