‘Kids’ jab, booster dose, CAB will help avoid lockdown’

With the fear of Covid fourth wave looming large and Covid numbers increasing slowly in the state, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar speaks to The New Sunday Express on the state’s preparedness to handle the next wave. Stressing on the importance of vaccination, he says, “We may not need a lockdown in this wave if people take the precautionary dose and children vaccine coverage is good.” Excerpts:

Is the state prepared for the fourth wave?
Vaccination is the only weapon we have to fight Covid. Karnataka has administered 10,61,57,160 doses of vaccine as of April 29, 2022 and majority of the 18-plus population have received their second dose. The vaccination for other categories, that is 12-14 and 15-17, is going on well.

But it is disappointing that people are not turning up for the precautionary dose. This is probably because people have become complacent and negligent as the third wave didn’t cause much hospitalisation or casualties as compared to the two previous waves despite a higher case load. This was only because of our vaccination efforts.

It is to be noted, however, that immunity wanes after a certain period, and the precautionary dose adds another layer of protection by boosting the immune system. Also, all the infrastructure augmented in the previous waves will be used to manage the situation if at all it is needed.

Considering that sub-lineages of omicron are in circulation, we are expected to see a similar high number of cases like in the previous wave. Will there be a lockdown?
The current situation does not warrant a lockdown. The purpose of a lockdown is to curb the spread of the virus so that the number of infections does not overwhelm the health infrastructure. Also, earlier lockdowns were enforced to break the chain when there were already a high number of cases.

As we saw in the third wave, though the number of cases was high, there were not many hospitalisations or casualties. Delhi is already witnessing a spike, but out of 4,002 cases, only 139 needed hospitalisation. This we believe is because of high rate of vaccination in our country. If there is no risk of our health infrastructure getting overwhelmed, then there is no need for a lockdown.

This wave is expected to peak after June and continue till October, which is a critical time for schools. Will schools again shift to online mode?
As of now, there is no such proposal. Even Education Minister BC Nagesh clarified that there will be no closure of schools. Closing of schools will be considered if the total positivity rate breaches 5 per cent.

Are we able to sequence enough samples?
Have we found any new lineages? We are sending samples for genomic sequencing as per the guidelines of ICMR and Union Health Ministry. From January 1, 2022 till April 29, 2022, genomic sequencing has been done for 6,099 samples in our state. Of this, no Alpha and Beta variants have been identified, while 596 (9.8 per cent) cases of Delta and its sub-lineages have been identified. A total of 147 variants of ETA, Kappa and Pango variants have also been detected. However, 5,356 omicron cases have been identified in the samples accounting for 87.8 per cent. Within the omicron variant, BA2 accounts for the greatest number of cases with 4,317 (80.6 per cent), BA1.1.529 accounts for 943 (17.6 per cent) and BA1 96 (1.8 per cent).

How do you plan to vaccinate children at school? Will it not be tough to convince parents?
Officials have been directed to test 5,000 kids between the age of 5 and 11 across the state as they are not yet eligible for vaccination yet. However, the vaccination for this category is expected to start soon with Corbevax. I don’t think it will be difficult to convince parents as everyone has realised that vaccines are the most effective way to protect ourselves from the virus. I urge all parents to get their kids vaccinated at the earliest. Studies have proven that these vaccines are absolutely safe.

After the third wave, the state was slowly limping back to normal. Now with the threat of the fourth wave, how do you intend to shift gears without affecting livelihoods?
There is no option but to learn to live with the virus. However, we certainly can manage it and not let it affect our lives. I can’t stress this enough, you should get vaccinated with all the doses of vaccine you are eligible for. Additionally, one must follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, hand hygiene and maintain physical distance in public spaces. These are the only ways to ensure normalcy.