Coronavirus: In India, the total number of people who contracted the virus so far is 94.62 lakh.
New Delhi:
The government has never talked about vaccinating the entire country when a coronavirus vaccine is approved, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Tuesday. The government had previously demarcated a priority list, which included around 1 million health professionals, police and armed forces personnel, people over 50 and under 50 with comorbidities.
“The government has never talked about vaccinating the whole country,” Bhushan said in response to a question at a press meeting.
“I want to make it absolutely clear. I repeatedly say that before discussing science-related issues, it would be good to know the factual information about it and then analyze it. So there was never talk of vaccination across the country.” he said, when asked when the government could vaccinate the entire country.
Bhushan’s remarks came three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the three key facilities that are working on a vaccine. The prime minister’s office said the visit was meant to help him get a “first-hand perspective on the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s effort to vaccinate its citizens.”
Mr Bhushan, in a press meeting on Tuesday, clarified that the goal is to work towards a critical mass of vaccinated people who break the chain of transmission.
Dr Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council for Medical Research, the country’s nodal organization for the battle against COVID-19, agreed. “If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people and break the transmission of the virus, we may not have to vaccinate the entire population.”
In response to a question about whether people who have contracted Covid will be vaccinated, Bhushan said that it is a topic of discussion around the world whether people who have ever contracted the coronavirus and have antibodies will need it.
The national group of experts on vaccine administration headed by Dr. VK Paul has given a mandate, one of which mentions that it is not necessary to vaccinate those with already formed antibodies, Bhushan said.
“Many other nations are investigating whether they need to deliberate when one has already developed antibodies from a previous Covid infection before vaccinating. Do you have enough antibodies? There has not been a final decision on this. But this is a topic of discussion between the scientific community and other nations, “Bhushan said.
The idea of herd immunity for Covid (infection of a critical number of people that breaks the chain of transmission of the virus) has been discussed since the virus appeared last year. But so far, no country has reported such an event.
In India, the total number of people who have contracted the virus so far is 94.62 lakh, which is less than 1% of the population.
But the second ICMR national sero-survey found that nearly seven percent of India’s population aged 10 years and over had been exposed to the coronavirus in August. This equates to an estimated 74.3 million people.
Sero’s survey of metropolitan areas like Mumbai and Delhi has shown very mixed figures. A recent sero-survey conducted in Mumbai revealed that 75% of the population have developed antibodies against the virus. In Delhi, the figure is one in four, or a quarter of the population.
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