61% of the eligible population in India is fully vaccinated, while 89% of eligible Indians have received their first COVID-19 shot, according to Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan. India is witnessing a spurt in fresh cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus which is three times more mutant than Delta variant. The only precaution against this new variant is full vaccination, according to health experts.
"89 per cent of the eligible population in India has received at least the first vaccine dose. 61 per cent of the eligible population has received the second dose," the Health Secretary said while addressing a joing press conference with Dr Balram Bhargava, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General, on Friday.
The health secretary further added that states like Odisha, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Puducherry, Uttar Pradesh, Meghalaya, Jharkhand, Manipur, Punjab, and Nagaland raise concerns as these are the states where vaccination is less than the national average.
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Precisely, the national average of the 1st dose is 88.7% , while of the 2nd dose is 60.7% . Talking further about the Omicron surge in India, the health secretary said that there are 17 states and Union Territories in India that have reported 358 Omicron cases till Friday, of which 114 have recovered.
Out of the 183 Omicron positive cases reported in India, 3 patients have already taken 2 doses and a booster shot, while 121 had a foreign travel history. Analysis of these 183 Omicron cases suggested that so far, 91% were fully vaccinated and 70% were asymptomatic.
"During analysis of 183 Omicron positive cases 121 had a foreign history, 44 cases have no travel history but most of them are those who came in contact with those who have travel history. 87 people were fully vaccinated, three people were those who received three doses and amongst them, two are from Delhi and one is from Maharashtra," thehealth secretary said.
He further added that the vaccination status of some patients is under tracking and some were unvaccinated. "Seven people unvaccinated, two people amongst them partially vaccinated, 16 Omicron positive patients were ineligible and 73 are those whose vaccination status is unknown. We are tracking that," Bhushan said.
Talking about the policy for booster shots, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said that the matter is under consideration.
"Deliberations are underway. We are reviewing scientific data to formulate a policy," Dr Balram Bhargava said.
