Amritsar, July 3

A webinar on the topic, “Vaccines: The tugboats of the adaptive immunity”, was organised by Dr Salim Ali Zoological Society of DAV College here.

Dr Manpreet Kaur from the Genetics Department of Guru Nanak Dev University was the resource person. She said there was a need to critically look at the immunisation programme as more than that of a vaccine delivery platform. “We need a health system based on disease control strategy rather than on a vaccine delivery programme. There is a need to create a bridge between the individuals and community, and acknowledge that healthcare (for the individual) and public health (for the community) must go hand-in-hand. Vaccine effectiveness and the National Immunisation Programme must aim to concentrate on the causes of the diseases that they seek to address,” she said.

DAV College Principal Dr Rajesh Kumar said vaccine provides protection from disease, not from normal infection, which is prevalent everywhere. “Immune system responds to infection and prevents one from disease, for different time duration by different vaccines. Therefore, some vaccines require to be followed by booster doses too,” he said. — TNS