BENGALURU: Rejecting assumptions that the brand of vaccine taken is cause for the spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus, experts and doctors said instead, it depends on each individual’s immunity system, and that has to be taken into consideration to decide what kind of booster vaccine is required.
Doctors say the first Omicron-positive Bengalurean suffered from obesity and a poor immune response system. With Jayadeva Institute planning to undertake another round of vaccine response test on healthcare workers in the next few weeks, experts suggest a similar exercise be carried out at other medical institutions, and also by the health department randomly, to understand what type of booster shots should be administered.
Doctors and experts have joined hands with the state government to get every individual doubly vaccinated, so that there is no rush of cases for hospitalisation.“The 46-year-old doctor who tested positive has obesity and a poor response to antibodies, which is why he got infected. He had taken Covishield. But it cannot be said that the vaccine has poor efficacy. The South African traveller, the first Omicron-positive case in India, had taken Pfizer. It’s the individual’s resistance. In fact, this is the right time to revisit immunity-building systems which people did during the first wave, like eating healthy homemade food and exercising,” the doctor said.
BBMP officials pointed out that five contacts of the doctor had also taken Covishield. The German woman who tested positive for Covid-19 had taken Pfizer. Dr. C N Manjunath, director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research said: “Earlier in September, we had tested the antibody and immunity level of 250 healthcare workers, and 98 per cent of them had a very good response. We are now working on a similar study in another two weeks on other individuals, as sufficient time has passed since they were vaccinated.” Dr. Manoj Kumar, Dean, Bowring Hospital, said vaccination does not prevent infection but can reduce the severity of the infection. Analysis of the vaccine’s mechanism and antibodies is still on, and depends on the individual.
Dr. K Ravi, Professor and Head of Department of Medicine, BMCRI, said there is no data on breakthrough of vaccines. There is also no data to state that a particular vaccine is not apt, or evidence whether the vaccine type booster or cocktail is good or bad. It is important for people to exercise caution.
Experts working with the government said: “Assessment is still on over how the Bengaluru doctor contracted the virus. The genome sequencing results and assessment of cases will help decide the type of booster doses that need to be rolled out, and when. The cases will impact the ministry’s decision.”