COVID19 booster shots work, say National Institute of Virology scientists

The opinion being given by the NIV scientists are in line with the suggestions by virologists across the globe who cite evidences in favour of booster shots for adult population groups.

Sumi Sukanya Dutta

April 01, 2022 / 20:59 IST

As of now, booster jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine are opened only for healthcare and frontline workers and those above 60 years after a gap of nine months following the second shot.

Senior scientists at India's top virology lab, the National Institute of Virology, Pune have said that the booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines may be useful for all above 18 years of age.

They, however, also said that the recommendation on introducing the boosters for all the adult population in the country will be given by the expert groups and a government decision will follow.

Dr Priya Abraham, Indian Council of Medical ResearchNIV director, said that evidence from research studies conducted by the institute and outside has suggested that a booster dose, after a certain interval of primary two vaccine doses in individuals, raises the antibody levels against Omicron, apart from other variants of SARS-COV-2.

"Eventually all adults in India may get it (booster doses) but a decision may be taken after evaluation of relevant data by the expert groups and factoring in issues like availability of vaccines," she said.

The COVID-19 working group under the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) has largely been driving the vaccination policy against coronavirus by evaluating scientific data.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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