Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Published : September 14, 2021 12:58 PM IST
With several countries have initiated policy decisions on booster doses, Indian administers are still awaiting more information. However, a new study done by researchers associated with ICMR's Bhubaneswar centre and some other government institutions has produced some evidence showing the need for a booster shot. According to a recent study done by the ICMR-regional medical research centre (RMRC) in Bhubaneswar, the amount of antibodies produced by Covaxin recipients begins to fall after two months, whereas that of Covishield recipients begins after three months.
For the study, researchers collected samples from 614 participants, out of which 308 (50.2%) had taken Covishield and the rest got Covaxin (49.8%). There were a total of 81 breakthrough cases among the participants for whom infection after vaccination served as a booster.
Antibodies were significantly lower in the remaining 553 healthcare workers who had no history of post-vaccination infection. Debdutte Bhattacharya, a senior scientist from ICMR-RMRC Bhubneshwar, "We have found that antibody level of Covaxin recipients is decreasing after two months of second dose vaccination, while it is three months in the case of Covishield recipients."
In a first of its kind study, Bhattacharya along with other experts followed the vaccine recipients of the two vaccines for six months and correlated it with gender, age, blood, and comorbidities. However, the researchers believe that more scientific evidence is required to know whether there is a need for a booster shot.
When patients who have been vaccinated build enough protection against the coronavirus but then the immunity wanes out, a "booster dose" can be given in such a case to safeguard themselves against the deadly virus.
However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 'booster dose' is different from an 'additional dose' of the vaccine. An additional or third dose of the vaccine is administered to people with moderate to severely compromised immunity. Even after receiving the two doses of vaccine, immunocompromised patients might not be able to build adequate or any protection against the virus. In such cases, a third 'additional' dose is recommended by CDC. Individuals will be eligible after 8 months of receiving the second dose of mRNA vaccines in the US and some other countries. So far, India has not approved the booster dose for administration.
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