Omicron still a threat: Don’t let guard down
The latest trends in the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic are a mixed bag but certainly call for urgent attention and action of the governments at the Centre and in the states. The number of daily new infections in the last seven days has fallen from 2,86,384 on January 27 to 1,61,386 on February 2, showing a steep and steady fall. Experts believe that the R number, or the number of people an infected person can transmit the disease to, has fallen below one, indicating that the wave is on a decline.
However, the fast rise in the number of deaths must trigger an alarm. It follows a pattern inverse to that of the daily infections: while 573 persons died on January 27, the number was more than three times it on February 2, the day when 1,733 people died of the infection. This is the highest number of people falling victim to the virus on a single day in the third wave.
The Omicron variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus has taken over the previous Delta the world over and it was expected that the new player will slowly put an end to the pandemic as it was supposed to be a weaker one. Data also supported the argument in that while about 10 per cent of those who are infected by the Delta variant needed hospitalisation, the figure has been less than five per cent when it came to Omicron. Experts offer several reasons, including that the mutants lose their virulence. However, there is concurrence among them in that vaccination has helped people survive the virus. The experience has been that the share of unvaccinated people among the dead is much higher than that of the vaccinated.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi the other day declared that 75 per cent of the eligible population in India has been fully vaccinated and the next target is to make the figure 100. The campaign must gain additional strength now, and this calls for unequivocal support from all stakeholders, from health workers to the governments to the people who are yet not got jabbed. It could be tougher to administer the jab to the remaining people for multiple reasons but the government must be able to find ways to surmount them.
A booster dose is a hot topic among even the experts while India has already launched the programme for frontline workers, senior citizens and those who are immunocompromised. Several nations have already achieved the target. Experts may differ on minor details on the efficacy of the booster dose for the lack of sufficient data but the government cannot afford to wait, given the high fatality rate. The government must promote the booster dose and expand it further to cover the other sections of the population. Now that the Drugs Controller-General of India has granted regular market approval for the two made-in-India vaccines, the government should encourage people to go in for a third shot. A joint effort by all concerned is the need of the hour until such time we have better data on the efficacy of the third dose. It is better to err on the side of caution instead of taking a chance.
The Prime Minister declared that 75 per cent of the eligible population in India has been fully vaccinated and the next target is to make the figure 100. The campaign must gain additional momentum now...