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No nod to Covishield booster dose yet, SEC seeks more data from SII

The Subject Expert Committee on COVID-19 has not recommended adding a booster dose of the Covishield COVID-19 vaccine to the prescribed vaccination format yet, sources told CNBC-TV18 on Friday. It has sought additional data from vaccine maker Serum Institue of India, which is manufacturing Astrazeneca’s Covishield jab domestically, on the need for the third dose.

The SEC also declined to consider Hyderabad-based vaccine manufacturer Biological E’s request to hold trials of an additional dose of its vaccine candidate Corbevax for those inoculated with Covishield or Covaxin, sources added.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told Parliament that the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC) and the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) are considering scientific evidence related to justification for booster doses against the coronavirus.

In a written reply in Lok Sabha, she said, as per information available on www.ourworldindata.org, more than 60 countries are providing booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
Her statement came as a response to a question on whether the government has announced any policy for booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines. On whether the government has conducted surveys or studies to assess the necessity and effectiveness of the dose, Pawar said the national regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, has granted permission to two firms to conduct clinical trials for administration of booster doses.

Bharat Biotech has been given permission for administration of booster doses in phase II part of ongoing phase I/II clinical trial of the Whole Virion Inactivated Corona Virus Vaccine. Biological E has also been given permission for conduct of phase II/III clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine containing Receptor Binding Domain of SARS-CoV-2 , which also includes a study of administration of booster doses. CNBCTV18

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