THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health experts are wary of hesitancy in taking the vaccine shots as an increasing number of fully vaccinated people getting Covid infected (breakthrough infection) has led to a feeling that the vaccines are ineffective in Kerala, which is among the top states in immunisation. The social media is rife with inaccurate reports of inefficacy of vaccines even when the data shows that severity of infection and death among Covid patients are highest among unvaccinated people.
The report of the central delegation which highlighted the breakthrough infections in Pathanamthitta after their recent visit to Kerala did not help either in preventing the spread of misinformation. The results corroborated the findings of worldwide studies that vaccines are effective against preventing severity and death.
Dr Padmanabha Shenoy, an immunologist and public health expert, analysed the infections from the beginning of second wave (April 1 to July 15) and found that around 5,000 such people were infected against over 37,000 people infected in the unvaccinated category. “This indicates that vaccine efficacy is somewhere between 70% and 75%. Protection against severe disease and hospitalisation will be above 95%,” said Dr Shenoy.
It takes two weeks after the second dose to get the maximum efficacy of vaccine. The health experts have pointed out that the government has not made the data available in the public domain on how many people were infected after 14 days of second dose. It was reported that only 258 qualified for being categorised as breakthrough infection. The analysis shows that there will still be people with breakthrough infection even when the entire population is fully vaccinated.
“Only a small percentage of the total infected people had breakthrough infection. Why we do not see a large number of cases in other states could be because the spread has stopped there because most of the people got immunity after having recovered from the infection. There are issues with poor reporting as well. The breakthrough infections we see in Kerala are similar to those reported in countries where a good healthcare system is in place. The new variants have helped the virus spread even in fully vaccinated people. But it could not reduce the efficiency of vaccine in preventing severity and deaths due to infection,” said Dr Anish T S, a member of the Covid management committee and an assistant professor at the Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.
An internal medicine specialist Dr N M Arun pointed out the easing of restrictions in the United Kingdom where over 75% above 18 years have been vaccinated. “The crowd watching the Test cricket at Lord’s is testimony to the confidence that vaccines have given in returning to a normal life. There are over 30,000 positive cases being reported daily there. But the deaths have declined. We could be like the UK in three months by taking vaccine,” he said.
18.75% people have got both doses
No vaccine manufacturer has claimed 100% efficiency so far. But breakthrough infection numbers will be lower and vaccines would prevent the severity of disease, according to the studies. The state has managed to give both doses of vaccine to only 18.75% of its population till August 13.