India's nasal vaccine not for those who have taken booster: NTAGI chairman

The Indian nasal vaccine cannot be given to those who have allready taken a precaution or booster dose, the head of the country's vaccine task force said

India's nasal vaccine cannot be given to those who have already taken a precaution or booster dose, the head of the country's vaccine task force said, according to a report by NDTV.

The nasal vaccine iNCOVACC was introduced on the CoWIN platform last week. 

The nasal vaccine is to be used as the "first booster" according to Dr NK Arora, the Chairman of the Covid Working Group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).

NTAGI works on introducing new vaccines and strengthening the universal immunisation programe in India.

Asserting that CoWIN will not accept a fourth dose, Dr Arora explains the concept of 'antigen sink'. According to him, if an individual is repeatedly immunised with a particular type of antigen, the body stops responding or responds poorly. This he says is the reason why initially mRNA vaccines are given on a gap of six months. 

Taking a fourth dose at this time will be of no value according to Dr Arora, the NDTV reported.

iNCOVACC enters the respiratory system- nose and mouth and here the immune system builds roadblocks to stop the virus from entering the system. And it is expected to help in fighting not only Covid-19 but all other respiratory viruses and infections, according to the report. 

 Who can take iNCOVACC?

As for now anyone above the age of 18 years can get the nasal vaccine, provided they have not allready taken the booster dose. 

The vaccine is administered through the nostril, with just 4 drops in each nostril, Arora said while calling iNCOVACC an extremely safe vaccine.

After the vaccine is administered, one needs to wait for about 15 to 30 minutes to observe and take care if there is any reaction just like with other vaccines, he added.