NEW DELHI: The scientific understanding of how the Omicron variant will impact the course of the Covid pandemic is yet to be known, but it looks like the scare is drawing more people to vaccination centres.
A look at vaccination data shows that there has been a nearly 16 per cent rise in administration of second dose over the past 13 days as compared to the previous 13 days, while there has also been a rise of over 15 per cent in total vaccinations over the same period.
Figures from the CoWIN dashboard show that while 5,87,20,738 dose 2 of the Covid vaccines were administered between November 12 and 24, this number rose to 6,889, 1913 during Novermber 25 and December 7 – marking a 15.9 rise.
During the same period, there was also a rise of about 15.2 per cent in total vaccinations which increased from 8,54,87,769 between November 12-24 to 9,95,54,192 between November 25 and December 7.
Omicron variant of the SARS CoV 2, which was detected by South Africa on November 25 has created ripples across the world mainly due to worries of a fresh surge in infections as it contains over 50 mutations when compared to the delta variant.
Even more worrying, many of the mutations have been seen on spike protein – a part of the virus that it uses to enter human cells – and early evidences do indicate that the variant is far more transmissible than delta and is capable of evading protection offered by vaccinations or treatment by monoclonal antibodies.
Many epidemiologists and health policy makers however believe that despite the reduced efficacies, most existing Covid19 vaccines will continue to offer some degree of protection against the latest mutant, a notion bolstered by a small study from South Africa.
The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in India crossed 130 crore on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
Over 72 lakh vaccine doses were administered on Wednesday till 7 pm, it said.
The ministry stated the daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late in the night.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase.
The vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
(With PTI Inputs)