New Delhi: The third reinforcement dose of the Covid vaccine is still in the stage of scientific ideas and the focus is currently vaccining the priority population, the government said when India passed another milestone by giving more than 36 doses of crores until Tuesday 7:00.
“The booster dose is still at the stage and efficacy of scientific ideas is not proven,” said Director General of Indian Medical Research (ICMR) Balram Bhargava.
Research also occurs to investigate how long the vaccine induced antibodies, said Bhargava.
Some studies show that antibodies in patients recovered from Covid-19 can remain for seven to 12 months but there is no clarity in vaccine induced antibodies, he added.
At present, the government tries to increase vaccination coverage to ensure most of the population is protected against severe diseases of Covid-19 and death because of that.
So far, 46.2% of 45-year-old people have received at least the first dose of anti-covid jab, while 17.2% of people in the band aged 18-44 years have had at least one dose vaccine.
In addition, 87.5% of health service workers and 90.9% of frontline workers have received at least the first dose of Covid-19.
From HCW and FLW who qualified for the second dose, 79.7% and 89.4% also have a second dose.