The country may not need to vaccinate all of its 1.3 billion people if it manages to immunise a critical mass and break the transmission of Covid-19, senior government officials said on Tuesday.
“The government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country,” said Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, during a press briefing on Tuesday.
India currently has the world’s second-highest number of Covid-19 infections, behind only the United States, with 9.46 million cases and 137,621 deaths.
Prof Balram Bhargava, Director General (DG) of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said that the government aims to break the chain of the virus first by vaccinating a critical mass of the population.
“Our purpose is to break the chain of the virus. If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people and break virus transmission then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population,” he added.
However, he also added that the efficacy of the vaccine is an issue leading to hesitancy among the people to undergo the vaccination since it may remain 60% effective in some individuals while it may reach 70% efficacy in others.
“There is an inherent issue of vaccine hesitancy which may have nothing to do with adverse events. A section of population thinks that it does not require vaccination,” stated Bhushan
However, Bhushan stated that it is the responsibility of the Union and the state government to allay fears among the people regarding the vaccine. “It is the states and union government’s responsibility to educate the people about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine while countering the disinformation,” he said.
The Union Health Secretary also informed that the government is preparing detailed guidelines regarding vaccine administration which may come within the next two weeks. “One of the issues mentioned in the guidelines deals with the aspect of vaccine safety. Our aim is to tell people what would be the effect and benefit of taking a vaccine to a person and at large,” Bhushan said.
Meanwhile, Bhargava stressed upon the importance of masks, stating that it is vitally important now and will continue to be even after the vaccination. “Since we would be starting the vaccination with a small population, the use of masks has to be continued as it is effective in breaking the chain of the virus,” he explained.
India’s plan to roll out a Covid-19 shot in the first few months of 2021 wouldn’t be impacted by an alleged adverse reaction during AstraZeneca’s vaccine trial, Bhushan said.
A 40-year-old man in Chennai said in a complaint over the weekend that he had suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the Serum Institute of India.
The incident is currently under investigation.
WITH AGENCY INPUTS