New Delhi: Ninety-two per cent of the people who succumbed to Covid-19 in India this year were unvaccinated, the Narendra Modi government said Thursday.
Comparing the second and third waves of the pandemic, Lav Agarwal, joint secretary at the Union health ministry said at a media briefing that vaccinations helped India cushion the blow during the third wave, even as many countries are still reeling under the onslaught of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2).
He further said that according to government data, India’s second wave lasted 117 days, from 21 March to 14 July, 2021, when the country recorded a total of 1,94,31,743 cases and 2,52,038 deaths — a case fatality rate (CFR) of 1.29 per cent.
During the third wave, which lasted 41 days — from 4 January to 14 February, 2022 — India reported 77,42,652 cases and 27,118 deaths, a CFR of 0.35 per cent.
Just 10.1 per cent Indians were partially vaccinated while 2.1 per cent were fully vaccinated (two doses) at the start of the second wave in 2021, said Agarwal. On the other hand, during the third surge, 90.83 per cent Indians were partially vaccinated and 65.4 per cent were fully vaccinated against the virus.
“During the second wave, it took us 49 days to reach the peak of over 4.14 lakh cases. If we analyse the third surge, we see that India took 18 days to reach the peak. There was a sharp decrease in the trajectory and by 14 February, the cases had come down to 10 per cent of the peak,” said the joint secretary.
“The second surge lasted 117 days, while the third lasted 42 days…2,52,038 deaths were reported in the second surge and this time it was over 27,118, or 16,570 without reconciled deaths (backlog deaths added to final toll). So we see that CFR in second surge was 1.29 per cent and in the third surge, without reconciled deaths, the CFR was just 0.02 per cent,” he added.
India also changed its testing strategy on 10 January this year — for the first time since September 2021 — when it said that asymptomatic contacts of positive patients no longer need to be tested.
Asked about the change, Agarwal said: “We have never reduced our testing. More than 9 lakh tests were conducted yesterday. As for Omicron being mild, as is often claimed, look at how many countries in the world are still grappling with it.”
It is widely believed that while the second surge was fuelled mostly by the Delta variant of the coronavirus, most cases during the third surge were attributed to Omicron.
Dr Balram Bhargava, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), who was also present at the media briefing, said that of all the Covid deaths that have occurred in India during the third wave, only 10 per cent were of fully vaccinated individuals — and 91 per cent of these fully vaccinated individuals who died had comorbidities.
Moreover, 21.8 per cent of the people who died were partially vaccinated and 83 per cent had comorbidities.
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On mixing and matching vaccines, possible fourth wave
NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V.K. Paul said India is currently in a phase where the pandemic is at an ebb.
“We are in a vaccine-protected low corona stage. That is why it is rational to open schools, businesses etc., and carry on the affairs of society. However, the responsibility is to ensure that surveillance is intact and we are prepared, and to wear masks,” he added.
Asked about mixing and matching vaccines, Dr Paul said that studies are on and a decision will be taken based on the data generated.
He also said that Corbevax — the protein subunit vaccine manufactured by Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Biological E — is being procured by the government, and a decision on its use will soon be taken.
He gave the same reply to a question about starting vaccinations for children younger than 15 years.
Asked about an IIT Kanpur study predicting a fourth wave in June, Dr Paul said that while the government is looking at all possible inputs, it would like to wait till the paper is published in a peer-reviewed journal before making a policy decision on a study “that is looking at just one dimension”.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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