Serum Institute denied permission for booster dose, asked to conduct trial first: Report

The Subject Expert Committee of India's drug control panel has denied permission to Serum Institute of India for administer a booster dose of its Covid-10 vaccine, Covishield. 

According to a report by India Today, the SEC has questioned administration of a third dose when several nations are facing a threat by Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. 

Also watch: Omicron reduces vaccine efficacy, spreads faster: WHO

The committee has asked SII to submit data pertaining to local clinical trials for booster doses. 

The India Today report state that the committee observed that SII has only presented immunogenicity data of 75 subjects from the UK study and no data has been submitted on need for booster doses in Indian population.