The head of the government’s Covid Working Group as well as the head of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation says that “we need not be worried” about the present COVID-19 situation in the country. Dr N.K. Arora says “we need to learn to live with Covid like influenza”.

In an interview with The Wire to discuss the rising COVID-19 numbers, which onApril 8 were 6,155, a 93-time increase over the figure of 66 on January 31, Dr. Arora said that it would be advisable for three categories of people who have not had the booster dose to take it. The three categories are people over 60, people with comorbidities and people who are immunocompromised.

However, Dr. Arora made clear that there is “no need for a fourth dose”. As he put it, “experience from the West shows additional boosters do not prevent infection. As far as protection from serious disease is concerned its well provided by the first two doses which 90% of people over the age of 12 have taken. Boosters, however, would be advisable for people who fall in the three categories mentioned above.

In the interview to The Wire, Dr. Arora revealed that India will shortly have two new Omicron-derived vaccines, one of which is an mRNA vaccine and the other is protein-based. The present vaccines are all derived from the older strain.

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