JOIN USNext 100 days crucial to ward off threats of Covid-19 third wave, says Centre
Six months into Covid-19 vaccination and nearly half of India's 45 plus population have received at least one dose of the vaccine, a top government official said on Friday, asserting that the next 100 days are crucial for India to ward off the threats of a severe third wave.
“Nearly 50% of people over 45 years received one dose. This will impact Covid mortality. But the infection can spread as the virus is still around and its presence is more in some states and districts,” said Vinod Kumar Paul, NITI Aayog member and the government's principal advisor on Covid-19.
“Our decline (in daily Covid-19 cases) has slowed down. It is a warning for us. It is in our hands to ensure that the situation doesn't deteriorate further. It is possible to block the third wave but the next 100-125 days are crucial as we have to be cautious and behave responsibly.”
More than 17 crore people aged 45 years and above received at least one dose till Thursday while another 6 crore got both the shots. The Union Health Ministry had earlier stated that the 45-plus age group accounted for 85% of Covid-19 deaths in India.
The milestone of inoculating more than 50% of the senior citizens (60 plus age group) was crossed last month, reducing their vulnerabilities from the epidemic.
Health Ministry sources said the Centre is in the process of placing an order of more than Rs 14,500 crore to buy another 66 crore doses of vaccines from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. The supply – expected in the later part of the year – would help the government continue with its vaccination campaign as it seeks to provide the shots to 94.47 crore population by December end.
Underlining the need to expand vaccination coverage, Paul shared the outcome of an ICMR study on Tamil Nadu policemen demonstrating how even a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine can provide 82% protection to the policemen from Covid deaths. The protection level goes up to 95% with two doses.
According to the study carried out on 1,17,524 policemen, as many as 32,792 got one dose of the vaccine while 67,673 received both. There was no vaccination for 17,059 individuals.
Among those who received one dose, there were seven Covid deaths (82% protection) whereas four deaths (95%) were recorded among those who received both the shots. There were 20 deaths in the unvaccinated group. “This is a real-world study conducted in the middle of the second wave,” he said. A similar outcome was seen in another study carried out on Punjab policemen.
A second ICMR study carried out by the National Institute of Virology demonstrates the protection given by the Covid-19 vaccines against breakthrough infections.