Third Covaxin Dose Safe, Effective, says ICMR

Covaxin 3rd dose holds promise, said ICMR, the day before the government plans to provide COVID-19 vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens with co-morbidities.

"Reassuring information on safety and immunogenicity of a booster dose of Covaxin administered six months after completion of a two-dose primary vaccination series with Covaxin," the medical research body said.

‘Third covaxin dose can produce good neutralizing antibody titers against homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV 2 variants without any serious adverse effects.’

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"Good neutralizing antibody titer detected against homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV 2 variants following booster. Reactogenicity in both the vaccine and placebo arm of the trial was minimal and comparable. No serious adverse events were reported," it added in its tweet.

In its tweet, the medical research body further highlighted the benefits of getting Covaxin's precautionary dose.

On December 25, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that from January 3, 2022, vaccination will start for the children in the age group of 15-18 years and further announced administration of precaution dose for healthcare and frontline workers from January 10.

Opened COVID-19 Vaccine Covaxin Vial can be Stored for 28 Days
The opened vial of Bharat Biotech's coronavirus vaccine, Covaxin, can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for up to 28 days. It is not required to be discarded immediately in a day or at the end of immunization session.

The Prime Minister also announced that option of precaution dose would be available to senior citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities on their doctors' advice from January 10, 2022.

"This has been done in the light of the amount of time that the frontline workers and health care workers spend in the service of COVID-19 infected patients. This has been called the 'precaution dose' in India, not the booster dose. The decision on precaution dose will strengthen the confidence of healthcare and frontline workers," the Prime Minister's office said.

With the administration of more than 89 lakh doses (89,28,316) vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 151.57 crore (1,51,57,60,645) as per provisional reports till 7 am today, the health ministry said.

Source-Medindia