Covid pandemic: No decision on booster shot, vaccination for children yet

No decision was taken on giving a booster dose to fully-vaccinated individuals as the national technical advisory group on immunisation (NTAGI) on Monday met to analyse the data on deaths of children during the pandemic in India amid the Omicron scare, according to a person present at the meeting. 

“Booster dose was not decided, but the group studied children’s death data and how it should be interpreted. For instance, if a child suffering from leukemia dies of Covid, then what should be the cause of death?” the person present at the meeting said.  “No vaccine for children has been given approval yet. These decisions will be taken subsequently once a vaccine is approved. As for Omicron, not enough data is available yet to draw any conclusion,” the person added. 

The group is still finalising the guidelines for children’s vaccination, which are expected to give priority to kids who suffer from comorbidities. 

NTAGI’s meeting took place with core members in the backdrop of Omicron fears gripping India and the world. The number of people infected with the variant in India jumped to 23 on Monday with two new cases being detected in Maharashtra. While more data and evidence are required to assess the severity of the new variant, initial findings show that it is several times more transmissible than Delta, Beta or Alpha, the other variants of concern.  Some scientists have also said that the Omicron variant can infect a person even after full vaccination or a recent infection. There are also reports from South Africa that the new variant has affected children below 5 years. 

South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases said, children under the age of two account for about 10 per cent of total hospital admissions in Tshwane, the Omicron epicentre in the country. The India SarsCov-2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) recently said, in its weekly newsletter, that a booster dose may be considered for those above 40 with high risk.