NEW DELHI: The government's scientific groups are deliberating on the need for booster dose of COVID-19 and they are reviewing all data from across the world as well as from India, officials said on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said discussions are going on to look at different aspects of booster dose.
"There is a COVID working group, which has debated on it several times that those recommendations to the subcommittee of the National Technical Advisory Group of immunisation following which it goes to the main technical advisory group of immunisation and then to NEGVAC which will then be accepted by the Ministry of Health," he said.
"So, deliberations are going on and we are reviewing all the scientific data from across the world as well as from India. We are deliberating and we are formulating our policy," he said.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the government has very clearly articulated the position that it would be governed by science and scientific evidence on deciding on the need and timing for additional doses and for lowering the age of vaccination.
"So our stand remains the same. And when we say science and scientific evidence, I did refer to certain aspects of science and scientific evidence. One aspect relates to antibody titers and their behaviour over a period of time. The other aspect relates to T cells and their behaviour over a period of time," Bhushan said.
"The third aspect relates to hybrid immunity, where you take one dose of vaccination and then get afflicted by the disease, then recover then take the second dose. So these are issues that men of science are deliberating," he said.
Quoting WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Bhushan said, "No country can boost its way out of the pandemic and boosters cannot be seen as a ticket to go ahead with planned celebrations without the need for other precautions".
According to WHO expert Abdi Mahamud, Bhushan said, "Although we are seeing a reduction in the neutralization antibodies, almost all data shows T-cells remain intact, that is what we really require."
"While the antibody defences from some courses have been undermined, there has been hope that T-cells, the second pillar of an immune response, can prevent severe disease by attacking infected human cells," Mahamud was quoted as saying by Bhushan.
National Expert Group on vaccine administration for Covid (NEGVAC) and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) are deliberating and considering scientific evidence related to justification for booster dose against Covid, the Centre informed Parliament recently.
Meanwhile, in view of Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Centre on Friday urged the private health sector to be ready as it has to play an important role in managing the pandemic.
Addressing a press conference, NITI Aayog member (Health) V K Paul said the private sector has been part and parcel of the national infrastructure.
"I would now like to request the private health sector also to prepare to include them in the entire health system level preparedness. The private sector has played and continues to play a very important role in managing the pandemic at the national level," he said.
Paul said the government would also like to specifically request the private sector teams to get ready in terms of how they will repurpose, should the need arise.
"We will request them to do the audits and the oversight of their drugs availability, oxygen availability and really go back on their own facility specific SOPs so that we are truly ready," he said.
"And the same way in particular, also, we will remind all of us that human resources are very important and here again, a huge effort has been mounted by the government to create teams and to train them. And the same thing also applies in the private sector that the team should know what and how they will be deployed and therefore, an overarching preparedness in the wake of the Omicron threat be launched. that is our first message," he said.
Paul said the second message the government wants to emphasise is the need for care.
"Festivals and new year are there so at municipality, district and state level, guidelines have been provided so that gatherings do not take place," he said.
About 358 cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus detected in India so far in the country.