No need for boosters, two jabs of vaccine enough to fight COVID, says NTAGI member

There is no need for booster doses as vaccines are not like antibiotics that can be taken one after another, a member of the Narendra Modi government’s expert panel on vaccination told News18 on Wednesday. “In my mind, there is no need for booster doses,” Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in India told News18.com in an exclusive conversation. “This is my opinion and experts can differ on it but the protection given by the natural infection helps most, at least, according to science. Especially in influenza illnesses, for instance, H1N1 influenza duration of protection is lifelong.” He said that the NTAGI members have been deliberating over the issue of launching booster doses in India and another meeting is slated to happen next week. Muliyil, who is a professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore and is known as one of the country’s leading epidemiologists, explained that vaccines programme our body to recognise antigens so that when an infection occurs, the immune system wakes up and starts fighting against it. “It’s a great symphony orchestra which is played by the human body.” Muliyil, who was also the chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of National Institute of Epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said that the data during the trial of the Covishield vaccine showed that “some people got a very high serological response (antibodies) with the first dose whereas the second dose hardly made any difference". When looked at again, he explained, “that particular subset had already caught COVID infection". “This means the single dose of vaccine was also sufficient for those who had a previous natural infection. This means a combination of two doses for people who had no history of a previous infection is quite sufficient. Only vulnerable people’s immune systems require help," he said. Muliyil further backed his argument by saying that India has already delivered the first dose of vaccine to more than half of its population. “We have delivered one dose already to the majority of the population. For some diseases, such as tetanus, people need to walk around with high levels of antibodies. For COVID-19, one can afford mild disease, especially the healthy individuals," said the scientist. If the Omicron variant were the first coronavirus to cause a pandemic, then there was a need to fear, he said. The number of mutations in the virus does not make it more vicious; even a single mutation can make it deadly, he pointed out. “The ridiculous part is we are assuming that a heavily mutated virus means it’s a disaster." Human beings themselves, he said, are a product of mutations. “If mutations did not occur, we all would have remained apes or monkeys." In Europe, the population has a higher proportion of vaccine-induced immunity, Muliyil said. “The advent of the Omicron infection has led to breakthrough infections there. However, we must understand that severity still remains low," he explained. However, the same trend has not been spotted in India, he said. “I am guessing the reason is a higher level of immunity gained by natural infection during the second wave." In medical terminology, if one has a COVID infection and again tests positive, it’s called re-infection. However, if one has been vaccinated but tests positive for COVID, it is called a breakthrough infection. “We must understand that if Omicron was the first coronavirus to infect human bodies, its severity could have been much higher," said Muliyil. “But, by now, our bodies have more or less learnt to fight back mutant strains."