‘Vaccines are working, but social vaccine must for six months’
The Hindu
Adviser to CCMB says indoor spaces with poor ventilation, be it offices, restaurants or cinemas, should be avoided irrespective of vaccination status
The devastating second wave of COVID-19 pandemic appears to be abating, but it does not mean reverting to our normal lifestyles, till a significant section of the population is fully vaccinated and scientists give the clear signal. ‘Social vaccine’ comprising masks, social distancing and hand hygiene should be scrupulously followed for the next six months, asserts former director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) and now adviser Rakesh Mishra in this exclusive interview. Excerpts: Both vaccines are pretty good and the data is very strong [in their favour]. They are definitely avoiding severe symptoms or deaths. We should realise vaccines are 70-80% effective, which means 20-30% of those vaccinated are susceptible to any infection. But, these could be mild symptoms and need not require intensive hospital support. Of course, vaccination does not mean immortality! People should not be concerned with the antibodies count, Actually, it does not mean much because having a high count does not mean you are well protected or vice-versa. It has been established that we have cell based immunity within our body which comes into play and responds whenever a virus tries to break our protection system. But, if we allow the virus to play freely by disregarding face masks and allowing clustering of people, we will give scope for a variant to evolve even after vaccination which could breach the immune system.More Related News