“VACCINATED PEOPLE CAN BE POTENTIAL CARRIERS OF THE VIRUS”

Firstly, COVID is not over. Rather, COVID cases are increasing around the world — only that they’re a little less severe this time. However, the vulnerable or special population including senior citizens, immuno-compromised people and pregnant women are at a high risk of catching the virus.

We still don’t know the efficacy and duration of the vaccine impact. For instance, if a vaccine’s efficacy is 80%, it means the infection will occur in less than 80% of the population. It does not mean what the public commonly believes — that 80% people will be protected. It takes three to four weeks to develop antibodies after vaccination. But once people take the double dose, they behave like Superman and are over-confident that they’ll not get coronavirus, which is a misconception. Till the antibody is formed, they should be extra cautious.

It’s often noted that doublevaccinated people are often asymptomatic carriers and infect others, especially the vulnerable population. Despite a person being infected, a one-time RTPCR test sometimes doesn’t show positive results. A repeat test has

to be done to get the correct result.

Also, as per the WHO, there’s no conclusive study on the severity and transmissibility of the omicron variant as yet. But studies have confirmed that those who already had COVID during the first and second waves are more at risk of omicron positivity than those

who never had COVID.

‘COVID cases are increasing around the world — only that they’re a little less severe this time. Once people take the double dose, they behave like Superman and are overconfident that they will not get coronavirus, which is a misconception. It’s often noted that double-vaccinated people are often asymptomatic carriers and infect others

(The writer is a senior general physician and diabetologist of Yashoda

Hospital)