Coronavirus (COVID-19) scare has been on a rise in Maharashtra and other parts of India and vaccines are being administered to ensure citizen safety. The state government has been taking necessary measures to ensure citizens do not miss or skip their vaccine dose. However, the recently identified COVID variant, Omicron, has raised further concerns, and considering the same, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium or the INSACOG has informed that a booster dose of the vaccine ‘may be considered’ for selected citizens above 40 years of age.
Information regarding the same was mentioned in consortium’s weekly bulletin as one of the first recommendations made for the variant which as per WHO poses a high risk. Identified as the B.1.1.529 strain, this strain could lead to complications, and to avoid the same, vaccination will be necessary for those who haven’t received both the jabs yet or the ones who are marked “at-risk” due to the ongoing health conditions.
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A report regarding the same was published in Hindustan Times. Quoting the bulletin, the publication reported, “Vaccination of all remaining unvaccinated at-risk people and consideration of a booster dose for those 40 years of age and over, first targeting the most high-risk / high-exposure may be considered, since low levels of neutralising antibodies from current vaccines are unlikely to be sufficient to neutralise Omicron, although risk of severe disease is still likely to be reduced.”
“Genomic surveillance will be critical for early detection of the presence of this variant, to enable necessary public health measures. Monitoring travel to and from the known affected areas, and contact tracing of COVID-19 cases with an epidemiological link to the affected areas has been implemented along with increased testing,” the INSACOG bulletin added.
Genomic surveillance has been suggested to be crucial to detect the variant at an early stage and this will also be beneficial for the concerned associations to take necessary measures. Meanwhile, guidelines and policy regarding the additional and booster dose for COVID variant will be released in the next two weeks and information regarding the same was given in November 2021 by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
Also Read: Omicron Scare: Maharashtra to issue revised SOPs for domestic passengers
Meanwhile, two cases of Omicron were identified recently in Karnataka, and this has raised concerned for the governments across India. WHO has released detailed information about the new variant and necessary measures are being imposed strictly by governments across the nation. Meanwhile, both the patients have not displayed any symptoms and all those who came in contact with the patients have been tested. Information regarding this was shared by the Joint Secretary of the State Health Ministry, Lav Agarwal.
Also Read: Omicron Scare: BMC set up teams in 24 wards to grapple flouters of COVID-19 norms
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