India is considering making all adults eligible for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine, two sources with knowledge of the matter said yesterday, as infections grow in some countries and some Indians find it hard to travel abroad without a third dose.
Only frontline workers and those older than 60 are currently allowed to take booster doses in India, whether free in government centres or paid for in private hospitals.
The government is debating whether to provide boosters to other groups for free, said one of the sources, who both sought anonymity as the government has yet to make a decision.
A health ministry spokesperson wrote in a WhatsApp group for reporters: “no decision yet”.
The Serum Institute of India (SII), whose Covishield vaccine dominates India’s immunisation programme, said yesterday it stopped the shot’s production in December but still had a stock of 200mn doses. It has produced 1.9bn doses in total.
Its chief executive Adar Poonawalla told CNBC-TV18 that they would restart production of the vaccine, a version of the AstraZeneca shot, if demand returned through boosters or any other way.
India’s health ministry, meanwhile, has urged states to boost Covid-19 surveillance measures, citing a resurgence in some parts of Asia and Europe.
China and Italy have seen a recent rise in cases.
Infections in India, however, have fallen to their lowest in more than a year, with 1,549 new cases reported in the past 24 hours and 31 deaths.
India’s total infections now stand at more than 43mn, with 516,510 deaths.
The country of about 1.4bn people has administered 1.81bn vaccine doses, more than 20mn as boosters.
On Twitter some Indians have said organisers of some events overseas have limited attendance to those who have taken booster doses.
(Representative photo)
