Though there are ample vaccines now, fully vaccinated people still being fewer is alarming

It was vaccine hesitancy then. It is vaccine complacency now. Some people seem disinterested in taking the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination. Many are convincing themselves that the chances of a third wave of the pandemic look dim because of low infection rates. Adherence to safety protocol has already slackened; so has the urgency to take the second dose. It is also no longer the case that vaccine stocks are low. They are ample. In the second week of October, 11.12 crore doses were available with the States on a given day but only 38 lakh doses were administered. In Odisha, around 13 lakh people were overdue for the second dose in August-end. Such cases are being reported from all the States. The longer waiting period of 84 days between the two Covishield jabs could be one reason for the low job rate. It is also possible that overcrowding at vaccination centres puts off some people. Or, like in rural areas, they may not want to travel long distances to get their jabs. Whatever the reasons, the fact is lakhs of people are not taking their jabs when they become due. In August, the Union Government said in response to an RTI query that over 3.86 crore Indians had failed to take the second dose within the stipulated time. The poor response for the second dose is making the Government jittery. For, the process of vaccination is incomplete till the second dose is administered.

Some hospital studies reveal that a single dose of Covishield offers protection against symptomatic infections with the Delta variant in a range of 18-61 per cent. The fully immunised had 97 per cent protection against death and the partly vaccinated, 69 per cent. Secondly, an incomplete vaccination gives the coronavirus the chance to infect or mutate in a manner to resist the vaccine. Either way, it militates against the massive vaccination exercise the country has undertaken. Remember how on account of complacency, the strains of tuberculosis bacteria began to resist antibiotics and the country registered the highest number of drug-resistance tuberculosis cases in the world. The Union health ministry is running campaigns about the importance of the second jab but says it cannot force people who deliberately miss the second jab to take it. In contrast, in a judgment in May, the Karnataka High Court made it the Government’s obligation to ensure that the second dose is provided. Even though the case was about the scarcity of vaccines, in principle, The court said vaccination affects the right to life. The truth is, the Government can be faulted for the scarcity of doses, and the lack of adequate vaccination centres but it cannot be responsible for people’s complacency. That is something the people have to handle for themselves. It is their responsibility to get vaccinated to be safe and, importantly, keep others safe.