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Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the status of COVID-19 and Omicron, public health response measures, ICU/oxygen supported beds, human resources, IT interventions and status of vaccination.
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Amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Omicron variant evades vaccine immunity and is 2-3 times more contagious than Delta variant which is leading to severe outbreaks in Europe and USA among fully vaccinated persons too, said G C Khilnani, Chairman, PSRI Institute of Pulmonary, Critical care and Sleep Medicine.
Khilnani said, "The silver lining is that it causes mild disease, especially in vaccinated persons. All the cases with the severe disease with Omicron have been in unvaccinated individuals. Although antibody levels diminish with time (6 months) the cellular immunity (Memory cells) persists giving protection from infection and more so for severe disease."
Khilnani mentioned that India’s seropositivity is largely due to natural infection. This is proven by the high seropositivity in children was also 67 per cent despite no vaccination.
"Natural Infection gives broad-based immunity across all variants. It is my thinking that due to these facts, India is in a position of advantage. However, we should not lower the guards as virus can
change its behaviour (as seen in past with Alpha variant) and continue COVID appropriate behaviour’ of which use of mask and stopping indoor gatherings and parties are most important," he said.
Meanwhile, Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday to review the status of COVID-19 and Omicron, public health response measures, ICU/oxygen supported beds, human resources, IT interventions and status of vaccination.
According to the PMO, officials briefed the PM about the emerging scenario globally driven by the new variant, with an overview of a surge in cases in countries having high vaccination coverage and the presence of Omicron Variant.