Even if the COVID vaccine has finally arrived and it’s Phase I implementation in the country has also been without major issues, medical experts have been issuing the caveat that danger still persists. This was endorsed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) sero survey findings released Thursday which say that a very large portion of the population is still vulnerable and it’s still much to go to attain herd immunity. With vaccination to remain restricted among the selected groups comprising health and Covid frontline workers and certain others till July, for the common man on the street everywhere in the country, the saviours are still the SOPs.

Based on the third national serosurvey conducted between December 7, 2020 and January 8 last, the findings point out that currently there is an overall sero-prevalence of 21.5 % in the country’s population with average values of 31.7 % in urban slums, 26 % in urban non-slum areas and 19 % in rural districts. The report which was shared in a condensed form by the ICMR Director General tells that coronavirus has infected one in four children aged between 10-17 years and one in four healthcare workers. But the most significant revelation is that India’s actual number of infections is over 292 million which is 27 times higher than the 10.7 million lab-confirmed cases documented so far across all states and UTs. It can be recounted that the first sero survey, which is a test to detect whether a person has antibodies to Sars-Cov-2 was conducted in May-June last year showed 0.73% seroprevalence and the second made in August-September showed it has increased to 6.6%. That the current numbers have a sharp jump from the previous rounds is a strong indication that a large proportion of the country, almost 80%, is still susceptible to the virus. It’s also important to note that third round of the survey has covered the same 700 villages and 70 districts from 21 states that were selected during the first and second rounds so as to arrive at a definite picture. After this, it requires a further harping that the need to continue to adopt observe all the COVID precautions such as face masks, physical distancing, hand hygiene and avoiding crowds remains as they were six months back and without vaccines there is no way. Union Health Ministry must take the report as an eye-opener since it has underlined not only the overwhelming necessity of the vaccination, but also the need for covering most of the population in the quickest time possible.

While it’s the duty of the people to remain within the protective shield, the government must also weigh the option of expediting the vaccination process for all citizens. 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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