Immunity

Referring to a study done by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the Centre said that two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, either Covishield or Covaxin, would prevent deaths in 95% of the COVID-19 cases.

Dr VK Paul, a member of Niti Aayog (Health), quoted that “This real-life study found that two doses of a vaccine were successful in preventing 95% of deaths due to Covid-19 and this is in the midst of the second wave driven by the Delta variant.”

He further added that the aim of providing this evidence was to make a point once again that the vaccines are effective and hugely safe.

The study of reference was conducted on 1,17,524 police personnel in Tamil Nadu. Among the enrolled subjects, 17,059 did not receive any Covid-19 vaccine and 20 people among these died due to the disease. 32,792 police personnel among all were administered only one vaccine shot and this category reported 7 deaths. While the third category included 67,673 beneficiaries, who were vaccinated with both doses, and this category reported 4 deaths amongst all.

Thus it was interpreted that the incidence of Covid-19 deaths per 1000 was 1.17 among unvaccinated, 0.21 among partially vaccinated and 0.06 in fully vaccinated.

Further, the NITI Aayog official also said that the Covid-19 vaccines being used are safe and that even pregnant and lactating women should get the shots to protect themselves and their kids from this infection.

He added that the patients with cancer and diabetes are in the high-risk group, so are needier in this requirement. This real-life data ensures the huge effectiveness of these vaccines to prevent deaths. He also highlighted the fact that not just vaccines but people also need to continue using masks to prevent an infection.

The Centre has also informed the Delhi High Court about the clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccines for children which are almost complete. The Centre also submitted an affidavit to the court stating that children will be inoculated expeditiously once the government’s expert body on Covid-19 vaccination grants permission. The petition came from a 12-year old, demanding direction from the court to prioritize vaccination for those aged 12-17 and their parents.