Beneficiaries take the booster vaccine dose at the Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai's Ghatkopar on Monday. (Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty)Coronavirus Omicron India Live: Two weeks into the third wave in India, a rise in Covid-linked deaths is becoming visible, however, the rate of increase is nowhere as fast as the surge in infections. While deaths across the country inch towards the three-figure mark, compared to the second wave, deaths as a proportion of the infection numbers are still very low, as of now.
Similarly, data from the national capital shows that, at current levels, the number of hospitalisations logged is far lesser than what was recorded during the peak of the second wave in April last year, according to senior government officials.
Meanwhile, 9.68 lakh people from three priority groups — the elderly with comorbidities, healthcare workers, and frontline workers — were administered the third dose across the country on the first day of the rollout.
Health staff during the observation period after receiving their third dose at the Dayanand Medical College & Hospital in Ludhiana on Monday. (Express photo by Gurmeet Singh)
With its multiple mutations, the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 significantly reduces the neutralising ability of antibodies — those induced by vaccines as well as by hybrid immunity, a study has found. This might explain its rapid spread even amid widespread vaccine coverage, suggests the study, conducted by the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI).
The researchers have stressed, however, that reduced neutralisation may not translate into drastic reduction in vaccine effectiveness. Read more