Top pandemic-control experts say focus on nations like Africa instead of giving booster doses to vaccinated

Why is there a hullabaloo for a COVID19 vaccine booster even before results of its clinical trials are outrdquo ask health care experts amid the Omicron scare They also expressed concern about starting booster shots when a huge part of the population including children have not been vaccinated yetSo far 21 Omicron cases have been detected in India including one each in Delhi and Jamnagar city of Gujarat two in Karnatakarsquos capital Bengaluru and eight in Maharashtra and nine in Rajasthan The experts cautioned that too much exposure to vaccines also means compromising the bodyrsquos natural immune system thereby causing probable adverse reactions leading to numerous autoimmune diseasesldquoOmicron lsquoblame gamersquo has been going on unabated over the past 10 days The Indian SARSCoV2 Genomics Consortium INSACOG comprises 28 COVID19 sequencing laboratories that monitor COVID variants to understand how they spread and evolve It has the protocol to sequence 15 20 per cent specimens that test positive on RTPCRrdquo said Dr Subhash Hira professor of Global Health at University of WashingtonSeattle and one of the top pandemiccontrol expertsThe INSACOG has told the Centre that it may consider boosters for people aged 40 years and above starting with the highrisk and highexposure people ldquosince 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 reducedrdquo It has also suggested immunisation of the unvaccinated atrisk populationImmune diseases fearldquoIt seems that most of the world has readily recommended administration of booster dose of the current base vaccines without even waiting for results of clinical studies of the booster shot Many scientists are concerned about booster dose because of the likely adverse reactions leading to autoimmune diseases such as myocarditis vasculitis rheumatoid arthritis thyroiditis SLE Psoriasis diabetes GuillainBarre syndrome etcrdquo said Dr HiraHe added ldquoThe worldrsquos wealthiest countries like the US and in Europe have already approved booster shots for some age groups and immunecompromised people HIVAIDS cancers etc The world has ignored a scientific finding that alerts against vaccine apartheid in resourcelimited countries of Africa Asia and Latin America where less than 15 per cent of the adult population is vaccinated The lowvaccine coverage areas in these countries as well as the rich ones are causing rapid replication of COVID and leading to emergence of new variants This is where the entire world should focus its attention now Mobilising global resources to deliver vaccines to nations like Africa Asia and Latin America will provide efficient control of the pandemic and slow down the speedy occurrence of variantsrdquoDr Hira added ldquoThe world needs to balance its pandemic control strategies between the lsquofirst generation to nth generationrsquo vaccines and the innovation for pharma molecules that will cure Coronavirus It is the pharma molecules that have been sidelined in the worldrsquos excitement to develop a therapeutic vaccine that would cure CoronavirusrdquoDr Wiqar Shaikh professor of Medicine Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals said ldquoThe cause for worry in the medical profession as well as in the governments around the world is that Omicron has over 50 mutations and could evade the immune system and vaccines Despite all the uproar Omicron cases have been reported to be mild with no hospitalisations and no deaths What is surprising is that there has been a demand from a certain section of scientists for a booster dose to bring Omicron under controlrdquoHe cited an article from the journal Nature published on December 2 which said many global healthcare workers have opposed widespread booster campaigns more so because large swathes of the world population remain unvaccinated Nature says the worry is that as wealthy countries rush to offer boosters and with the emergence of new variants like Omicron it will further exacerbate the global vaccine imbalance a disparity that could have contributed to the emergence and spread of OmicronDr Shaikh also quoted an October 9 study in Lancet that analysed and summarised all available studies on COVID19 vaccines It concluded that the available data did not support widespread use of boosters He said that there is a clamour worldwide for boosters to tackle Omicron even though therersquos no scientific data to support that He concluded that it is still early and until we have more scientific evidence on Omicron giving boosters may not be good scientific practiceStrengthen COVID protocolsDr Ketan Vagholkar professor of surgery at DY Patil Medical College ldquoThe detection of Omicron has led to a futile global confusion and panic The overall severity of COVID19 has reduced over time The diseaseproducing capability of Omicron is still undetermined The exact preventive role of existing vaccines against Omicron is contentious and debatable We therefore need to completely vaccinate the entire population and more so strongly enforce COVIDappropriate behaviourldquoVulnerable populations should be fully vaccinated on war footing By the time this is done details of clinical disease from Omicron will be available and a decision for boosters can be taken then There is a high likelihood that Omicron may not be as serious as Deltardquo Dr Vagholkar concludedldquoI feel that before taking a booster we must check the COVID19 antibody levels in fully vaccinated people If we have adequate antibodies then I feel a booster is not neededrdquo said Dr Santosh Bansode HoD Emergency Medicine Wockhardt HospitalsldquoThere is a chance that new variants will keep emerging so we canrsquot keep giving people boosters again and again We must continue research but at a faster rate to find a vaccine that will give us antibodies for at least a year We should strictly follow what our national COVID19 task force says about boosters because their opinion will be unbiased and genuine since they are not involved in any kind of vaccine business They suggest measures purely on the basis of scientific researchrdquo Bansode saidldquoAnd if we decide to give boosters we must also study potential side effectsrdquo he concludedHow to detect booster sideeffectsAccording to Dr Subhash Hira the recipient of the booster vaccine dose may have clinical symptoms like palpitations joint pain and muscular pain and blood vessels coagulation in the form of deep vein thrombosis etc Those with symptoms need to get a few blood tests done to ascertain autoimmune disorders if any and accordingly seek medical advicecare1 CReactive Proteins CRP test2 DDimer test3 IL6 test