Mere vaccination is not enough against omicron: Health Ministry

    25-Dec-2021
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Covid Vaccination_1
GUWAHATI, Dec 25
Nine among 10 persons who tested positive for the omicron variant of Covid-19 are fully vaccinated, an analysis of 183 omicron cases by the Union Health ministry said.
Sharing the result of the analysis Friday, the Health Ministry said that “vaccine alone are not sufficient to contain the pandemic” and urged people to wear masks.
The Centre also said surveillance is important to break the chain of transmission.
The analysis, released by Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, revealed that 27 per cent of the cases did not have a history of foreign travel which indicated the presence of omicron variant in the community.
It further stated that 87 candidates were fully vaccinated and three had received the booster shots too and seven were unvaccinated while two received one dose among the 183 people.
Dr VK Paul, the head of India’s COVID-19 task force, said that the omicron has a higher risk of transmission within the households as compared to the Delta variant.
“It is clear that it is spreading in households because Omicron is highly transmissible compared to Delta. That one person who brings in the infection from outside, because he didn’t wear a mask outdoors, will infect others in the house. This risk is higher in Omicron. We should keep this in mind,” Paul said.
“I want to emphasize the need for care. There are upcoming festivals and New Year and the new variant has emerged during this period. Therefore, responsible behaviour such as wearing a mask, hand hygiene and no crowding is the way forward,” he said.
Pual said that unnecessary travel and large gathe- rings have to be avoided.
“The containment and surveillance strategies remain to be one of the major approaches to control the pandemic. We have the vaccination but that alone is not sufficient to contain the pandemic. There should be special emphasis on contact tracing and perimeter control,” Paul said.
The analysis also showed that 70 per cent of patients are asymptomatic. NE Now