By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Amid concerns that many people are contracting Covid-19 in the current surge of the pandemic despite taking vaccines against it, the Centre on Wednesday released data to show that the number of such breakthrough infections is negligible.
At a press briefing, ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said only two-four in 10,000 Covid-19 infections post inoculations have been seen in India so far which was minuscule.
He, however, did not elaborate on whether or how many of these infections led to severe disease or deaths.
The contraction of virus after being inoculated with a single or both doses of the vaccine is referred to as post-vaccination breakthrough infection.
The reassurance on a few instances of breakthrough infections comes ahead of the major expansion of the ongoing vaccination drive that is set to be opened for all adults in the country starting May 1.
“The narrative on breakthrough infections is distant from reality,” said V K Paul, member (health) of the Niti Aayog who heads the national Covid-19 task force said.
“The incidence of breakthrough infection is very low. Even if Covid infection occurs after the first and the second dose of the vaccine, it does not cause severe disease. The risk of infection is there which is why masks are important, but the risk of severe infection reduces considerably.” Bhargava pointed out that the available vaccines are most effective mostly after two weeks of the second dose even though immune response could vary from person to person.
Bhargava said 0.
04 per cent of 17,37,178 individuals, who received the second dose of Covaxin, were positive for COVID-19, while 0.
03 per cent of 1,57,32,754 people, who took the second dose of Covishield, contracted the infection.
Bhargava who presented the data said vaccines reduce the risk of infection and prevent death and severe infection.
“After vaccination if one gets infection then it is known as breakthrough infection,” he said.
So far, 1.1 crore doses of Covaxin have been administered.
Out of which 93 lakh received the first dose and out of that 4,208 (0.04 per cent) people got the infection which is four per 10,000 individuals.
About 17,37,178 people received the second dose of which only 695 (0.04 per cent) tested positive for COVID-19, Bhargava said.
Of Covishield, 11.6 crore doses have been given.
Ten crore received the first dose and 17,145 i.e.2 per 10,000 people contracted the infection.
About 1,57,32,754 individuals took the second dose of Covishield and of that 5,014 (0.03 per cent) got infected.
Two to four per 10,000 breakthrough infections have occurred, a very small number.
This was mainly healthcare workers prone to more occupational hazards, he said.
According to the data, 5,709 people contracted the infection after the second dose of either of the two vaccines.
“This is a very small number and not at all worrisome. Secondly, the highly transmissible second wave also contributed (in) miniscule (way) to the percentage so this could have been even zero per cent,” he said.
Responding to a question that there have been cases of people with no other exposure testing positive two weeks after vaccination, and if there is any link between vaccine and cases among those vaccinated, Bhargava said these vaccines are given to protect from the disease.
“These definitely do not cause any disease. However, the immune response takes two dose plus two weeks to fully mount. But individual variations do occur, some may get it slightly earlier some may get a delayed response,” he said.
NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul noted that there is a risk even after taking vaccination so “we stress people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour even after taking the vaccination”.
Paul said that with refinements being made in vaccine policy, India is talking to major manufacturers from other countries very, very actively.
He further said a fourth vaccine, Hyderabad-based Biological E’s indigenous anti -coronavirus shot, may become available from August.
“The phase 1 and 2 trial of Biological E is almost over and they will be submitting their data, and after that they will go into phase 3. This is a very significant development as they have a capacity of seven crore vaccines per month,” Paul said.
On vaccinations, Bhushan said 87 per cent of all healthcare workers and 79 per cent of frontline workers have received their first dose of vaccine.
“Eighty per cent of healthcare workers have received the second dose of vaccine so that is a matter of satisfaction,” he said.
About 11 states and UTs — Himachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Kerala, Rajasthan, Ladakh, Uttarakhand , Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Gujarat — have administered first dose to more than 90 per cent of the registered healthcare workers.
Eleven states and UTs — Nagaland, Chandigarh, Manipur ,Meghalaya, Punjab, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Delhi — have administered first dose to less than 75 per cent of the registered HCWs.
Fourteen states and UTs have given second dose to more than 85 per cent of eligible HCWs.
They are Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Sikkim, Ladakh, Daman and Diu.
Eight states and UTs — Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi — have given second dose to less than 75 per cent of the eligible HCWs.
Eleven states and UTs — Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Daman and Diu, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Ladakh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli have administered first dose to more than 80 per cent of the registered FLWs.
Ten states and UTs with FLW coverage less than 65 per cent are Goa, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,Telangana, Meghalaya, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and Kerala.
Ten states and UTs have given second dose to more than 84 per cent of eligible FLWs.
They are Arunachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Lakshadweep, Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Nine states and UTs — Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir — have given second dose to less than 70 per cent of eligible FLWs.
Ten states and UTs — A&N Islands, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Sikkim and Ladakh — have given first dose to more than 40 per cent of the people aged above 60 years.
The data presented in the briefing showed that out of the 93,56,436 people who received first doses of Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, 4,208 (0.04%) had a breakthrough infection.
The proportion was the same for those who received second doses of the indigenously developed Covid19 vaccine as out of 17,37,178 who got the second and final jab, 695 got the infection.
Similarly, of 10,03,02,745 people who received the first dose of Covishield, 17,145 or 0.02% got a breakthrough infection and out of 1,57,32,754, who got the second dose of this vaccine, 5,014 or 0.03% reported breakthrough infection.
These figures have been released a week after the Centre for Disease Control in the US said that it had reports of nearly 5,800 breakthrough infections, out of the nearly 77 million individuals in the country who have been vaccinated.
Experts say such cases are not unexpected as no vaccine is 100% effective against infection but also say that the government should make public the detailed efficacy data of the vaccines being used.
“It would be good if the government releases detailed real-world efficacy data of the vaccines to show how they are protecting against infections and severe disease and will build confidence in people,” said immunologist Seyed Hasnain.
Meanwhile, efforts are being ramped up for massive production of vaccines and make them available in the shortest possible time, a top government official said on Wednesday, stressing that India currently has a promising pipeline of four-five COVID-19 vaccine candidates, while three have already been approved for emergency use.
Department of Biotechnology Secretary Renu Swarup said a financial support of Rs 400 crore is being provided to vaccine candidates from Zydus Cadilla, Biological E, Gennova and Bharat Biotech (single-dose intranasal vaccine).
Her statement came days after the government widened the vaccination drive to cover everybody above the 18 years of age.
“There are three vaccines in India, which have been approved for Emergency Use Authorisation — Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII), Covaxin by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. (BBIL) and the Russian Vaccine, Sputnik-V. Besides these, there is promising pipeline of 4-5 candidates in advanced clinical stages of development,” Swarup told PTI.
DNA Vaccine candidate by Zydus Cadila, protein subunit vaccine candidate by BioE, mRNA vaccine candidate by Gennova, and single dose intranasal vaccine candidate by Bharat Biotech are in advanced stages of clinical trials, she said.
“The Department of Biotechnology has provided technical, advisory and financial support for these vaccine candidates during their early development.
Now, under Mission COVID Suraksha, financial support of nearly Rs 400 crore for late stage clinical development of these vaccine candidates is being provided.
“The manufacturers already have existing capacities and can contribute to about 15-20 million doses per month, which can be made available for immunisation, once approved,” Swarup said.
Six Indian firms including Dr Reddy’s will collectively produce 70 crore doses per annum of Russian vaccine Sputnik V, she added.
(With PTI Inputs)