According to a study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, which based its findings on estimates of excess mortalities in India during the pandemic, vaccines against COVID-19 prevented over 42 lakh deaths in the country in 2021.
The country started its COVID-19 vaccination drive in January 2021 and as per records released by the Health Ministry, till date, the cumulative vaccination coverage exceeds 196.94 crore. More than 3.62 crore (3,62,20,781) adolescents have been administered with the first dose and 2,23,36,175 with the second dose of the Covid vaccine, according to latest data by the ministry.
Aming spike in cases, infections are less severe than in the past due to full vaccination of the whole population of J&K, underlined a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary. The meeting called for a precautionary dose of persons with comorbidity.
The meeting also stressed further the testing of travelers and checking their vaccination certificates to weed out chances of spread of the infection.
During the meeting suggestions from participants were taken and the preparations made at their end were also taken note of. It was ascertained during the meeting that there is no threat currently but following precautions like wearing face masks and frequent hand washing needs to be adopted strictly to be safe and avoid any loss of life.
The J&K government has been rightly emphasizing that the vaccination was a critical tool to help stop the Covid pandemic. The government had been making requests to the people to get vaccinated. It also rightly emphasized people not to be complacent after getting vaccinated. It’s crucial to continue following COVID protocols and guidelines.
There is a need to ensure that more and more people take the vaccine including precautionary doses.
To reduce the rate of transmission within J&K, all efforts shall be made by authorities through active involvement of PRIs, Community Leaders, Market Associations and Federations.
Government has rightly underlined that the IEC campaign for containing Covid cases shall be undertaken by all District Magistrates (Chairperson, District Disaster Management Authorities) in their respective jurisdictions highlighting the necessity of Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB).
The administration also needs to create awareness and boost confidence among the people to get vaccinated. What has been seen is that the vaccination has surely helped reduce hospitalizations. The message must be amplified. The government needs to cover more people as quickly as possible.