Breastfeeding women who were so far kept out of the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India are now eligible to receive the available vaccines, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday.
Heeding the recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) as well as the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), the Ministry also asked people infected by COVID-19 to take the vaccine, three months after recovery. People who have recovered can donate blood 14 days after the last day of isolation or after testing negative if they choose to test again.
Health officials, clinicians, as well as ICMR did not have a uniform answer whenever this question of when vaccines should be given to people who recovered from COVID-19 was raised in press conferences so far.
Along with these recommendations, both the committees will continue to discuss whether COVID-19 vaccination would be extended to pregnant women as well. Both pregnant and lactating (breastfeeding) women were not included in the initial phases of the vaccination drive. Pregnant and lactating women who worked as health as well as frontline workers were not eligible to receive the vaccine when the vaccination process was initiated in January 2021.
The government has also emphasised that a vaccine recipient does not need to be screened or tested by the Rapid Antigen Tests any longer.
Vaccination Guidelines On Health Ministry's Website Differ
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare provides two different answers for vaccinating people who recovered from COVID-19 in its FAQs available online. The FAQs are yet to be updated with the new guidelines that the ministry announced on Wednesday.
The answer to the question- "Can a person presently having COVID-19 (confirmed or suspected) infection be vaccinated?" suggests that an infected person should take their vaccine shot 14 days after the last day of isolation or testing negative.
However, in the immediate next question which reads, "Is it necessary for a COVID-19 recovered person to take the vaccine? And if I had COVID-19 infection and was treated, why should I receive the vaccine?" the ministry recommends that the recovered patients should vaccinate after 4-8 weeks of recovery.
Even the heads of the two health apex bodies in the country have differed in their opinions about vaccinating the infected. While Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director, AIIMS Delhi had announced 14 days in a press conference, Dr. Balrama Bhargava, Director General, ICMR stated that it could be 4-8 weeks.
The US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention had recommended a period of 90 days for people who had been treated with monoclonal antibodies or convalescent plasma therapy.
While the NTAGI suggested that the duration be close to 6 months, the Health Ministry has decided on 3 months. If a person was infected after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, they will have to wait for three months from the last day of recovery to receive the second dose.
Similarly, the Ministry has passed a similar directive like the CDC to vaccinate those who were treated with monoclonal antibodies and convalescent plasma after 90 days of recovery.
If a patient has been hospitalised for any other illnesses, even they should defer their vaccination but only by a period of 4-8 weeks, the government recommends.
