Booster shots

Booster shots

Subject: Science and Technology

Concept: The World Health Organization (WHO) will take a decision on the inclusion or exclusion of Covaxin in its emergency use listing (EUL) of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines in four-six weeks,

Concept:

• The fully vaccinated people by now clearly shows that immune responses last up to 8-12 months ,Hence a booster is a means of strengthening one’s immune system against a particular pathogen.
• The same original vaccine, in which case its goal is to increase the protection by producing more antibodies.
• boosters given after six months of full immunisation can increase antibody level so high that they protect against all the variants

Need

• These boosters will be particularly helpful for the elderly and immunocompromised people.
• There are studies showing that a new variant can sneak past the antibodies created by a specific vaccine, the need of a tweaked booster shot arises then.

Concerns:

WHO was concerned, it was quite clear that at least 10 per cent of populations in all the countries should be vaccinated by September and 40 per cent within the country, before countries start thinking about boosters.