In the seemingly never-ending battle with Covid that has already made the list of scientific findings lengthy, during the last couple of days, two more have arrived- one that will aggravate fear and the other carrying a message of assurance. The latter one that deals with a new analysis made by the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) has conclusively shown that in terms of efficacy of currently available vaccines in India in preventing casualties, the two-dose regimen will score more marks. The first finding is depressing since it warns of the arrival of the most-lethal variant of the lot so far –Delta Plus strain, which might quicken the 3rd wave’s arrival. Arunachal Pradesh has recommenced its Covid vaccination campaign with a new zeal and set an ambitious completion target and to make it successful, the dual-dose coverage percentage will matter.
The findings of the study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research on June 21 were based on a survey made among the 117,524 personnel of Tamil Nadu Police during May. It emerged that when it comes to prevention of mortality, those who were administered with dual shots are in a more safer ladder of the overall safety zone than the ones who took just the first dose. In terms of percentage, it has been found that vaccine effectiveness in preventing Covid-19 deaths with two and one doses was 95 and 82 respectively. This is a major research-based contribution to the ongoing efforts for taming coronavirus which  needs to be propagated on a mass scale to counter the strange overconfidence among a section of people that just a single dose is enough. As of now, in Arunachal, the 2-dose coverage of the 45+ category is just 15 and it must be the target of the state health administration that there are no left-outs of the 2nd shot. Coming to the new danger, the Delta Plus variant (AY.1), initial indications carry the warning that compared to its predecessor (B.1.617.2) which was first detected in India and arguably the sole contributor of the Covid 2.0 upsurge, it has a more greater transmissibility and may even prove to be immune to the antibody response mechanism. Around 40 cases caused by the Plus variant have been detected in Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh so far and warnings have already been issued by the Union Health Ministry to these states.
It will thus be an incorrect perception that Covid is retreating. It’s still here and only a full vaccination will make all the difference between life and death. All beneficiaries in Arunachal taking dose 1 must necessarily take the 2nd one- health department must ensure this.

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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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