After recording a dull demand for Covid-19 booster shots across months, private hospitals have finally started witnessing footfall and queries to take the jabs.
With China witnessing a harsh coronavirus wave, similar to India’s second wave, it seems Indians have finally woken up to take their pending precautionary shots.
According to Chinese local news, some residents in Beijing have to wait for days to cremate relatives or are paying steep fees to secure timely services, indicating a growing death toll amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
In order to raise vigilance in India, the Centre and state governments have been advising the public to get their pending precautionary shots apart from following other public health measures such as wearing masks and maintaining social distancing.
According to Dr Viny Kantroo, Respiratory, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Consultant, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals in New Delhi, “With the news of China’s Covid-19 situation, we have seen an uptick in the number of volunteers asking for booster shots.”
Kantroo said booster shots have been available at the hospital premises for months now, with an average of just one to two people per day. Apollo administers the shots by calling a cohort on a particular day and opening the vial the same day.
Similarly, Dr Sumit Ray, medical superintendent at Holy Family Hospital, told News18.com that the demand for boosters had “increased significantly in the last two days”.
“From usual 6-8 boosters per day, we administered 20 on Thursday and 50 on Friday till late afternoon,” Ray said.
The response is similar in Faridabad’s Amrita Hospital. “There is a definite increase in the queries related to booster dose in the last two days. People have been asking if they need to take the third dose. Also, there are multiple queries for the nasal vaccine,” said Dr Arjun Khanna, head, department of pulmonary medicine.
Echoing the same trend, Dr Bishnu Panigrahi, group head — medical strategy and operations at Fortis Healthcare, said with the government authorities recommending precautionary doses, “we are receiving queries”.
However, not all hospitals are not witnessing a rush.
Sample this: Dr Viswesvaran Balasubramanian, consultant interventional pulmonology and sleep Medicine at Hyderabad-based Yashoda Hospitals, said despite the re-emergence of fear around Covid-19 comeback, there has not been a surge in intake of booster doses, as of now.
“We hope that in the near future, there will be more takers for the booster dose. Despite this (lull in demand), we continue to provide services for booster doses at our hospital.”
India so far has administered a little over 22 crore booster doses and 220 crore vaccination doses overall including the first dose, a second dose and a booster shot.
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