More than one in five Indians have already been exposed to SARS-CoV2 virus, according to the latest round of sero surveillance survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and others last month.
The survey, carried out using over 28,500 samples from the general population and 7,100 healthcare personnel, showed that around 21.4 per cent of Indians above the age of 18 have antibodies against the virus. While 31.7 per cent of people living in urban slums and 26.2 per cent in urban non-slum population were found to have antibodies, 19.1 per cent of their counterparts in rural areas, too, showed the signs of exposure to the virus. This survey carried out in December-January was the third after the surveys in May-June and August-September and covered the same 700 habitats in 70 districts in 21 States.
Besides, the blood samples of 100 healthcare workers in each of these districts were tested for the first time during the survey, which was completed before the vaccination drive commenced, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava told reporters, adding that 25.7 per cent of them were found to have developed antibodies already.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, also was also present at the briefing, said nearly 45 per cent of around 96.32 lakh healthcare workers have already been given the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. Close to 46 lakh people have been vaccinated till Thursday 1.30 pm, and the beneficiaries also include some frontline workers whose vaccination commenced two days ago, said Bhushan.
Best, worst performers
According to him, Madhya Pradesh, which vaccinated close to 74 per cent of its healthcare workers and Rajasthan covering 66.8 per cent were so far the best performers, while Tamil Nadu (23.2 per cent) and Assam (20.2 per cent) were among the worst. The Secretary, however, was confident that the States would be able to complete the coverage of healthcare workers and frontline workers soon, so that they can move to the next category where older people in general population could be covered.
According to Vinod Paul, Member (Health), Niti Aayog, there is a lot of improvement in the vaccine hesitancy situation in most States, and he also assured that the government will ensure that not a single vial of the vaccine will be wasted just because their shelf life is six months. “We are monitoring each batch of vaccine daily, not once but twice a day, which are used not just in India as well as those exported or given away as gift. I can assure you we will not allow a single dose of it go waste,” said Paul. He said the second dose for beneficiaries who received the first dose will commence from February 13.
Bhushan claimed that India has reported one of the lowest adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) in the world. Of thr 46 lakh vaccinations, there were only 8,563 AEFIs, or 0.18 per cent. Of these, only 34, that is 0.007 per cent, required hospitalisation, the Secretary said.