'Will Not Follow World Blindly': India May Not Expand Precautionary Covid Vaccine Doses for All Ages
News 18After a high-level meeting with the WHO on the issue of boosters, the Centre has decided to reconsider its policy regarding giving a nod to precautionary doses of Covid vaccine for all age groups. The National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation for Covid-19 met WHO officials and said that India “will not blindly follow others” on its booster dose policy. The United Nations on Tuesday had said that it is supporting India’s vaccination drive, which is the largest in the world, and the global body and its partners have reached some 600 million people in the country with COVID prevention and mitigation messages, spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said. “This includes developing robust surveillance and monitoring measures, boosting lab capacity, developing response plans, procuring and distributing personal protective equipment, training health care workers, and disseminating life-saving information,” Dujarric said. At a press briefing on Friday, the U.N. health agency said it was now recommending booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, beginning in the highest-priority groups, about four to six months after receiving the first two doses, in line with guidance from dozens of countries that embarked upon booster programs months ago.