'High vaccination has caused reduced morbidity and mortaliy,' says health official
Official figures revealed that 92 per cent of patients who lost their lives to Covid-19 in India in 2022 were unvaccinated.
“High vaccination has caused reduced morbidity and mortality and we have studies to show the same,” Balram Bhargava, director-general, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told the media in Delhi.
“Unvaccinated individuals during 2022 were responsible for 92% of all the deaths from Covid,” said Bhargava, citing data from India Vaccine Tracker, the national database.
According to him, vaccine effectiveness in mortality prevention was also measured, revealing that the first dose is responsible for 98.9 per cent vaccine effectiveness, and if both the doses are given, then it is 99.3 per cent effective.
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Referring to the Omicron surge, Bhargava said it was better contained in India.
“The peak in India was much smaller in the third wave as compared to other countries including South Africa, the US and the UK. India’s Covid graph is smaller than other countries, of which many are developed,” he said.
Luv Aggarwal, joint secretary of the health ministry, said only 0.7 per cent of global Covid-19 cases had been reported in India.
“On average, around 11,000 Covid cases are reported on a weekly basis in India,” he said.
Kerala, Maharashtra and Mizoram account for 50 per cent of the active cases in India.
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