Targeted vaccination drive a better strategy: ICMR study

NEW DELHI: “Smart vaccination” approaches that target the vulnerable population — in the context of the Indian Covid-19 epidemic — make for a smarter public health choice than mass vaccination, a mathematical modelling-based analysis by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) says.
The analysis shows an infection-preventing vaccine with 60% efficacy covering all priority groups would reduce peak symptomatic incidence of Covid-19 by 20.6% and total deaths by 29.7%. A similar vaccine with ability to prevent symptoms, but not infection, will reduce peak incidence of symptomatic cases by 10.4% and cumulative mortality by 32.9%.
The study supports a focus on vulnerable or priority group vaccination that seeks to reduce the incidence of mortality and offer greater protection against the disease. In a situation when vaccine supply is insufficient to cover all priority groups, model projections suggest that after key workers, priority should be accorded to all who are above 60 and subsequently individuals with co-morbidities. The analysis underlines that challenges that are particularly pressing in a country as large as India would persist even after more vaccine candidates are available.
“Vaccination rollout should prioritise those most at risk of severe outcomes of infection,” it says.
“‘Smart vaccination’ based on public health considerations, rather than mass vaccination, appears prudent,” the study concluded. The study also suggests vaccinating all defined priority groups against Covid-19 would have a substantial reduction in overall health burden, compared with a scenario of no vaccination, and complete lifting of restrictions.
So far, nearly 80% of healthcare workers and 90% of frontline workers have been administered both doses of Covid vaccine.