Need to Reach Out to People With Vaccine: AIIMS Chief Randeep Guleria on Strategy to Defeat New COVID Surge

New Delhi: At a time when the country has recorded 53,480 fresh infections taking the total tally to 1,21,49,335, Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) chief Dr Randeep Guleria said that the Coronavirus surge within the country is mainly because of a brand new pressure and the state of affairs is precisely just like the one happening in the UK.

Speaking to NDTV, Dr Guelria said that the country is witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases round Holi because the same sort of situation is repeating itself and it is likely that there is a variant which is causing the virus to be more infectious.

However, he made it clear saying it is likely logically that if there is a sudden surge in cases, there is something which is making the virus more infectious.

At this crucial time, he said that there is a need to reach out to the people with the coronavirus vaccine – another possibility which the government has negated. “We need to develop a strategy where we can reach out to people and give them the vaccination but do it in a way that we are confident that we can take care of any adverse effect which happens,” Guleria told NDTV.

The AIIMS director also stated that both AstraZeneca/Serum Institute, which is manufacturing Covishield, and Bharat Biotech, are looking at a dose which would be appropriate for children. “If we really need to control the coronavirus pandemic at this time, and have children back to school and be comfortable with that, we will have to look for vaccines which are for children,” he added.

The statement from the Dr Randeep Guleria comes at a time when India on Wednesday recorded 53,480 fresh infections and 354 new fatalities. The country had recorded 355 deaths on December 17.

The active caseload increased to 5,52,566 and accounts for 4.55 per cent of the total infections. The recovery rate further dropped to 94.11 per cent.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 5 states cumulatively account for over 79 per cent of the total COVID-19 active cases in the country with Maharashtra alone accounting for more than 61 per cent of the active caseload. Apart from Maharashtra, the four other states accounting for the majority of the active cases are Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.

Five states namely Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab and Chhattisgarh cumulatively account for 79.30% of the total active cases in the country. Maharashtra leads with more than 61% of the active caseload of the country, the ministry said in a statement.