Study finds 95% vaccinated hosp. staff safe from Covid
A study on the effect of Covid-19 vaccination by Apollo Hospitals during the second wave of the disease has found that more than 95 per cent of the healthcare workers who received the jabs did not have post-vaccination infection.
The finding, from one of the largest cohorts of vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) analysed in the country so far, emphasized that Covid-19 vaccines are effective,” according to Dr Hariprasad of the hospitals group.
“It is important to continue with Covid-safe behaviour even when one is fully vaccinated, like in matters of wearing a mask, sanitizing the hands, maintaining appropriate social distance and avoiding crowds,” Dr Hariprasad said.
The study looked at 31,621 staff from 43 units of the Apollo Hospitals group in 24 cities. These included doctors, nurses, paramedical as well as support and administrative staff.
According to Dr Anupam Sibal, group medical director, “The results showed Covid vaccines protected more than 95 per cent of the recipients and that postvaccination infection occurred in only 4.28 per cent (1,355 out of 31,621) of the vaccinated healthcare workers.”
The findings also showed only 90 cases of all vaccinated workers required hospitalization, with only three of the cases requiring ICU admission.
The most important finding, he said, was that there was no death in case of Covid infection after vaccination. Of the fully vaccinated workers, 1,061 reported post-vaccination infections, while 294 of the partly vaccinated workers tested positive, Dr Sibal said.
Dr Prathap C. Reddy, founder chairman of the Apollo Group, said: “This study reiterates that our mainstay against Covid19 is mass vaccination. Vaccines are not only safe, but also help prevent severe manifestations of Covid19 and save lives.”
He said, “We should aim to vaccinate five million Indians per day. The main conclusions from the study are that post-vaccination infections are usually minor and vaccination helps prevent severe infection, ICU admissions, and death.”