As cases rise, poor uptake of precautionary dose turns worrisome

The main cause for concern is the waning of immunity, says the Director of Public Health

Vijayalakshmi Balakrishnan, senior consultant, infectious diseases, Kauvery Hospital, said the number of persons coming in for the booster dose was very less. “For example, if 10 persons are eligible, probably only one comes in. Even after the recent rise in cases, the pick-up rate has not been very high,” she said.

She added, “Those who have completed more than nine months after the second dose are at a higher risk of developing complications from COVID-19, that is, the involvement of lungs. Without the booster dose, the immunity level is less.”

The bigger problem is that in the vulnerable group, who had taken the vaccine earlier, a considerable number have not taken the booster dose. “That is the most worrisome part,” she said. At least, 90% of the patients under admission now are those who are unvaccinated or have taken a single dose or vaccinated more than a year ago, she pointed out.

While a lot of youngsters are not keen on getting the dose, the elderly are reluctant to move out, Dr. Vijayalakshmi said.

Shreevidya Venkatraman, senior consultant, internal medicine and in charge of preventive health checks, MGM Healthcare, said the pace of the booster dose uptake was not as big as it should be. “I think the government should open up the administration of the booster dose for the below 60 years category.”

“We had a lot of people who tested positive for COVID-19 during the second half of last year. So, there should be a gap of nine months from the second dose of the vaccine, and three months after testing positive,” she said.

Dr. Shreevidya said the booster dose gave an assurance that even if one did test positive, he/she would not fall sick. “Quarantine duration reduces substantially from 14 to seven days in symptomatic or much less in asymptomatic persons who incidentally test positive. We can beat the intensity of the infection through the vaccine,” she said.