Research could prove vital in helping the Government decide whether or not to order a booster vaccine dose in India
It has been more than one-and-a-half years since the Covid-19 pandemic took the world by storm and forced humans into a lockdown. Although there has been vaccine roll outs all over the world for close to 6 months now, new research has revealed some interesting results.
A study based on 614 fully vaccinated health workers in the Indian state of Odisha has found that there is a “significant” drop in their Covid-fighting antibodies within four months of the first shot. This study is predicted to help the government of India to decide whether or not to order a booster dose in the country.
Vaccine Booster Doses in Western Countries
The United States, France and Germany, that were among the worst affected countries in the second wave of the pandemic have already announced a third dose of vaccinations for their citizens. These booster doses will be administered 8 months after the last dose of the vaccination. The world’s leading country in inoculations, Israel, has already administered a booster dose to about 1 million of their population.
Along with these countries, Japan, a country that battled vaccine shortage and other hurdles during their inoculations drive is also considering a third booster dose.
The director of a state-run institute that conducted the study claimed that waning antibodies do not necessarily indicate that immunized people lose their ability to fight disease because the body’s memory cells may still kick in to provide substantial protection. “We should be able to tell you more precisely whether and when a booster will be needed after six months,” Sanghamitra Pati of the Regional Medical Research Centre in Bhubaneswar, told Reuters on Tuesday.
Interestingly, research has also indicated that the antibody protection offered by two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech and the AstraZeneca vaccines also begins to fade within in 6 months of administration.
The Indian study, which was published in the Research Square pre-print platform but has not yet been peer reviewed, is one of the first to involve the country’s two main vaccines, Covishield, a licensed version of the AstraZeneca shot, and Covaxin, a locally-created vaccine.