Vaccination not enough; 9 of 10 affected by Omicron jabbed with both doses: Centre

Sharing the results of its analysis of 183 people affected by Omicron, the Center stressed that “vaccines alone are not enough to prevent the pandemic” and reiterated that the use of masks and surveillance is essential to break the chain of transmission. 4,444 At least nine out of 10 people infected with the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid19 are fully vaccinated, an analysis of 183 Omicron cases in India by the Center shows.
Sharing the results of its analysis on Friday, the Center emphasized that “vaccines alone are not enough to stop the pandemic” and reiterated that the use of masks and surveillance are essential to breaking the chain. spread. Analysis released by Union Health Minister Rajesh Bhushan found that 27% of cases had no history of overseas travel, indicating the presence of Omicron in the community.
It also shows that 87 people have been fully vaccinated (91%), of which 3 people have been vaccinated; and only seven out of 183 were unvaccinated while two were partially vaccinated. The center also announced that the vaccination status of 73 of them were not known and 16 were not eligible for vaccination.
The head of India’s Covid19 task force, Dr V K Paul, warned that Omicron poses a higher risk of transmission in households than Delta. “Clearly it is spreading in households because Omicron is highly contagious compared to Delta. People who bring the disease in from outside because they don’t wear a mask outside will spread the disease to other people in the house. This risk is higher with Omicron. We have to keep that in mind,” Paul said.
“I want to emphasize the need for care. There are festivals and new years coming and new variations have appeared during this period. Therefore, responsible behavior such as wearing a mask, washing hands and staying away from crowds is the way to go. Non-essential travel should be avoided. We cannot be in large groups. Needs constant vigilance. Surveillance and control strategies remain one of the main approaches to pandemic control. We have vaccinated, but it alone is not enough to stop the pandemic. Paul said.
Analysis of clinical symptoms also showed that 70% of patients were asymptomatic. “The predominant strain in India is still Delta, consisting of recently identified clusters. Therefore, we must continue with the same strategy: appropriate behavior for Covid19 and an increase in vaccination. Omicron infection does not necessarily lead to serious symptomatic clinical disease. In India, about a third of cases are found to have mild symptoms and the rest are asymptomatic. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that the treatment of Omicron in symptomatic individuals remains the same,” said DG ICMR, Dr. Balram Bharghava.
Paul also called on private sector hospitals on Friday to be ready to “reallocate beds, if needed.”
“Readiness includes all health system level readiness. The private sector will continue to play a very important role in pandemic management… we require them to perform audits and monitor drug and oxygen availability and return SOPs. specific to their establishment, let Paul say.
“Human resources are very important. To make the infrastructure work, you need groups. The government has put a lot of effort into creating teams and training them. The same applies to the private sector. Therefore, a comprehensive preparation, according to the wake of Omicron, will be kicked in and implemented,” said Paul.
During Thursday’s meeting on Omicron, Paul said, the prime minister’s first message was about preparing infrastructure at the district level to combat a possible surge. Meanwhile, Bhushan has released a detailed breakdown of the Covid19-specific oxygen and intensive care beds that are ready amid a possible surge. He said the country currently has 18.1 thousand isolation beds, 4.94 thousand oxygen beds, 1.39 thousand ICU beds, 24,057 ICU pediatric beds and 64,796 non-ICU beds.
Bhushan says global experience, particularly from South Africa, at present, shows that the majority of patients in the hospital do not need supplemental oxygen medical assistance. “However, we must be vigilant. Today, we generate 18,836 tons of medical oxygen per day. This is a significant increase in capacity after the second push,” he said. On Friday, Paul, referring to the WHO’s statement on booster doses that this must be “based on solid evidence”, said: “WHO documents indicate that giving booster doses must based on holistic evidence, driven by science that applies to our circumstances; guided by science that applies to our vaccines. Readers relate to other platform vaccines in different settings and with comorbidities and age profiles that differ in some respects, so it needs to be evidence-based. Science from India is very strong. There are strong efforts to culture the virus and we will test our vaccine (against Omicron). Rest assured that decisions about childhood immunizations and booster shots will be made on the basis of scientific principles and in the best interest of the Indian people.
Regarding the booster dose, Bhargava said, “There is a great discussion going on (about boosters). The Covid19 working group has repeatedly discussed this issue. Discussions are given. We are looking at all the science from around the world as well as from India: about the Tcell reaction, the antibody response, to a particular vaccine and to another. We’re looking at how long it lasts after infection.
Ministry of Health said on Friday that 358 cases of Omicron have been detected in India so far, of which 114 cases have fully recovered. Six states have reported more than 30 cases: Maharashtra (88), Delhi (67), Telangana (38), Tamil Nadu (34), Karnataka (31) and Gujarat (30).

Bhushan, also pointed out that the country’s first dose of coverage has reached 90% of the adult population, however, the “cause for concern” is in 11 states, where coverage is below the global average. country, including four major states: Uttar Pradesh (84%); Maharashtra (87%); Bihar (78%); and Tamil Nadu (85%).