Right time for vaccination, can stop 2nd wave: Expert

Right time for vaccination, can stop 2nd wave: Expert

Sushmi.Dey@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:16.01.2021

As India gears up for Covid vaccination amid a significant decline in active cases, experts say the innoculations is necessary and the timing is apt as it can help avoid a new wave, particularly in the wake of the new UK strain which has higher transmissibility. “We are fortunate to be starting the vaccination drive at this time with the first wave in decline. This will help in timely vaccination of a significant proportion of the population if at all the second wave does hit us,” said Dr A S Soin, chairman of Medanta Liver Institute.

Vaccination is urgently required at a point when herd immunity is yet to develop and the economy and travel are opening up, increasing the risk of a wider infection spread, experts said.

“Vaccination is necessary because you do not know when a second wave can potentially start and various other countries have witnessed a second and a third wave with severe cases or a more infectious strain,” says Public Health Foundation of India president Prof K Srinath Reddy.

“There is no herd immunity against Covid-19 as it is a new disease. Vaccine against Covid can help in reducing the spread of infection and severity. Though the active infections are currently low but we are not sure about the trajectory of this pandemic,” said Dr Atul Kakar, senior consultant and Vice Chairman of Internal Medicine at Ganga Ram Hospital.

“Since the availability of the vaccines will be a constraint, the vaccination drive may stretch over a year or more. So social discipline and Covid-appropriate behaviour will remain the cornerstones of our Covid protection policy,” says Dr Soin.

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SHOT AT IMMUNITY: Vaccination is needed as herd immunity is yet to be reached and economy and travel are opening up