The Government on Wednesday strongly felt that the number of cases in the third wave will not be to the extent that the health system comes under strain if people religiously followed Covid appropriate behaviour (CAB) and States wisely implemented containment strategies.
“At least 2.2 per cent of India’s population has been affected by the disease so far. This should also make us wary of protecting the still vulnerable or susceptible 97 per cent population. We cannot let our guards down, hence, continued focus on containment is critical,” Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said at a media workshop organised by UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry on the need to bust myths about vaccines and vaccination and reinforce the importance of CAB.
“If we keep following containment and Covid appropriate behavior, then the third wave, even if it comes, will not have the number of cases that will put the health system under strain,” he said.
Noting that one of the challenges being faced in the anti-Covid vaccination programme is vaccine hesitancy, Agarwal said many beneficiaries, especially in rural and tribal areas, fail to get themselves vaccinated owing to myths, rumours, misinformation and disinformation about Covid-19 vaccine shared on social media.
“While busting myths is important, it is also critical to remind communities about the role of Covid appropriate behaviour in breaking the virus transmission chain,” he said.
Responding to a question on the effectiveness of cocktail vaccines or mixing different vaccine doses, senior ministry official Veena Dhawan said as per the evidence available, the vaccines are not “interchangeable”.
“A full analysis is yet to be made on the subject. Cocktail vaccination is not to be followed and we should take the same doses of the vaccine,” she stressed.
On Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI), Dhawan said the first 30 minutes post vaccination are crucial.
“That is why people are kept under observation. Serious or severe side effects are mostly seen in the first 30 minutes,” she added.