No need for fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine given current evidence: Expert

“If a person has taken a third dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine, it means his T-cell immune response has been trained thrice,” Dr. Gangakhedkar said.

Dr. Raman Gangakhedkar, former head of epidemiology and communicable diseases at the Indian Council of Medical Research, has discounted the need for the fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine given the current evidence about the coronavirus and its variants.

“If a person has taken a third dose of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine, it means his T-cell immune response has been trained thrice,” Dr. Gangakhedkar said on the sidelines of a function on January 24.

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"The core virus (of COVID-19) has not been changed so much that a new vaccine would be needed, so try and have trust in our T-cell immune response," he said.

"Looking at the current evidence (of variants of the virus), it is not that big that there is any need for the fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. There are many reasons for that. Currently, whatever vaccines are there, the virus makes the escape mutants over them which causes infections," he said.

According to Dr. Gangakhedkar, old people and those suffering from chronic morbidities should continue to take precautions such as wearing of masks.