Omicron Scare: Expert panel to meet today over Covid-19 booster shot

New Delhi, Dec 10: The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) will hold a meeting on Friday on the need for administering booster doses amid the Omicron variant scare.

Todays meeting comes days after the Serum Institute of India sought approval for Covishield as a booster dose citing adequate stock of the vaccine in the country and a demand for a booster shot due to the emergence of new coronavirus variants.

In an application to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs at Serum Institute of India (SII) cited that the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has already approved the booster dose of AstraZeneca ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine, they said.

The Union government has informed Parliament that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 are deliberating and considering scientific evidence for the need and justification for a booster dose.

Recently, Kerala, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh have urged the Centre to decide on allowing booster doses of COVID-19 vaccine diseased amid concerns raised by 'Omicron', the new variant of SARS-CoV-2.