According to a report published in NDTV, the head of the vaccine task force in the country in an exclusive interview has told that people who have taken a booster dose or a precaution need not take the nasal vaccine. Reportedly, last week at the CoWIN platform, iNCOVACC, the vaccine from the nose has got introduced.
Speaking further about it, Dr. NK Arora said that the nasal dose is meant as an alternative for those who have not taken the first dose of the booster. Dr. Arora happens to be the chairman of the Working Group of Covid in NTAGI. This group works towards making stronger the immunization program in the county and also for introducing new vaccines. Dr. Arora has confirmed that those who have already received the precautionary dose need not have to take the nasal vaccine.
According to the program, CoWIN is not the fourth dose, Dr. Arora has told NDTV. So before giving, the person must be asked if he has received the booster, if yes then the nasal vaccine must not be given to him.
Speaking about it further Dr. Arora has said that assuming that a person wishes to receive the fourth dose and is given then the reaction shall be ‘antigen sink.’ This means when a person gets repeatedly immunized with the same antigen type, the response of the body stops. This is the reason why during the initial mRNA vaccine, a six months gap was given. And the second one was given after a gap of three months. Yet it was not much of a help and so, the people who have taken the booster dose already shall not get any benefit if taking this nasal dose.
A very interesting way for immunization is generated through the nasal dose. The vaccine gets in through the respiratory system which is the nose and mouth. Here the immune system builds a preventive measure that stops the virus from entering the body. And so, the nasal vaccine shall not only fight against Covid but also against other respiratory infections and diseases. It is going to be a very useful platform for prevention.
People above the age of 18 years are eligible for receiving the nasal vaccine. The process is very simple. Four drops of 0.5 ml shall be administered to each nostril and that shall be it. This vaccine has a little adverse effect. It may only block the nostril for a while but on the whole, it is very safe.
After receiving this vaccine, the person shall be made to wait for fifteen to thirty minutes just like it happened during the previous vaccination process. In case of any reactive responses, the person shall be attended to immediately even though there have not been any such reports so far, Dr. Arora said.
In an answer to if people got to take boosters after getting the nasal vaccine, Dr. Arora said that currently there is no evidence of any more vaccines shall be required or not. He added that even in countries such as Europe and North America, people still suffer from the infection despite taking four to five of the same mRNA vaccine.