By: Dr Dhiren gupta, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
Do we need to be concerned about omicron in india ? Would omicron strike and creat havoc like delta? These are the questions that are bogging us.
We cannot compare situation in india with any other country. Six months back we experienced the onslaught of delta wave so our population’s immune status would be now much different from the west . Vaccination status has also improved . A combination of natural infection and vaccination gives the best protection against covid as per available scientific data.
Another fact that we should remember is that despite tall claims of healthcare preparedness for third wave, no country’s healthcare structure can support a huge population like ours. Moreover, health has never been a priority of our government for past many decades.
Hence, prevention is the key and that can be the only saving grace for a diverse country like ours with a redundant health care infrastructure and a still untamed virus.
ESEENTIAL QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED BY POLICY MAKERS –
1)WHAT IS THE EFFICACY OF COVISHIELD AND COVAXIN IN PREVENTING OMICRON ( or any other mutation ) IN INDIAN POPULATION?
2) DO WE NEED TO ENHANCE IMMUNITY BY GIVING BOOSTER doses?
3) DO WE NEED TO WAIT TILL WHOLE POPULATION GETS 100 percent vaccination coverage before giving booster ?
We need to learn from the data published by UK ( based on 581 omicron subjects and many delta patients) .The analysis is based on limited data, but showed a dramatic drop in effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine ( 25 to 40 fold reduction ) and a significant drop even after two doses of Pfizer.
In general it is being propagated that omicron is mild . This is true for young population but not for age groups more than 60 ( as per initial data from South Africa , flier attached).
Omicron wave can be problematic even if it is milder. A sudden wave could infect a large number of vulnerable people, needing hospital care at the same time. This will hold true for a country like india where even 10 percent rate of hospitalisation can overwhelm the resources.
Another fact we should consider is that post vaccination, the next two weeks are very critical. This is the time when there are not enough antibodies and also immediately post vaccination the person may be more vulnerable for severe disease if he/she catches wild infection.
New year and Christmas celebrations over the next 3 weeks are going to be testing times.
Given above, we should provide booster to all those who received last dose 6 months back and did not suffered symptomatic delta infection ( during second wave).
Medical policies should be directed by scientific deliberation and not petty politics or poor availability of resources.
Once booster dose is approved many of healthcare workers ( most vulnerable) can get it , paying as individual or by hospitals. For individual healthcare need we ( Indians) have never been dependent on government funds . In fact it’s the government who heavily relies on private healthcare.
