By Krishna N. Das and Neha Arora
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s health minister said on Thursday that his COVID-19 epidemic was contained, as with most of the country’s active patients concentrated in two states, a fifth of the districts completed a week without new cases.
However, a vaccination campaign identified by the government as the largest in the world is progressing unevenly, with research showing that more than half of Indians are reluctant to get vaccinated immediately.
The 1.35 billion country recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world after the United States, and with the likely real rate of infection even higher, a study suggests that some pockets of India achieved herd immunity through natural infection. .
Since the peak in mid-September with about 100,000 cases daily, the infection rate has decreased significantly. Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said 11,666 cases have been reported in the past 24 hours.
“India has managed to contain the pandemic,” he said in a statement. “India has flattened its COVID-19 chart.”
Vardhan said 146 of India’s 718 districts had no new cases for a week.
India has about 173,000 active COVID-19 patients, more than two-thirds of them in the states of Kerala and Maharashtra. He reported 10.7 million infections and 153,847 deaths – one of the lowest death rates in the world, attributed in part to its relatively young population.
With the fall of infections, the government will, from next month, suspend the sidewalks, reopen public swimming pools and allow movie theaters and theaters to have more than 50% of the installed capacity.
IMMUNE NOW OR VACCINE-SHY?
India started its immunization program on January 16, with health professionals at the forefront and a goal of reaching 300 million people by July-August.
He is using a vaccine developed at home by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Medical Research Council, and another licensed by AstraZeneca.
There is no shortage of shots, unlike many other countries.
But 60% of Indians are hesitant to get the vaccine immediately, according to a study by the LocalCircles citizen research platform released on Wednesday – a high percentage, but less than a similar survey of 17,000 people found a few weeks ago.
The government acknowledged that the reluctance is shared by some doctors and nurses, who have expressed doubts about the Bharat Biotech vaccine, which has been approved for emergency use without advanced efficacy data. The government says it is safe and effective.
Some states, including the national capital territory of Delhi and Maharashtra, have been able to vaccinate only a fifth or less of their health care professionals, the health ministry said in a presentation.
Three doctors told Reuters, anonymously, that they already had antibodies through a natural infection and would not be in a hurry to get vaccinated.
Antibody tests on more than 700,000 people by the diagnostics company Thyrocare Technologies showed that 55% of India’s population may have already been infected, his boss told Reuters.
The World Health Organization says https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/media-resources/science-in-5/episode-1 that at least 60% to 70% of the population needs have immunity to break the transmission chain.
A senior Indian vaccine official told Reuters that even a lower percentage of immunity could slow the spread of the virus.
“Most of our highly populated districts and cities have had their pandemic race … and they may have what you call collective immunity to some extent,” said Vinod Kumar Paul, who heads a vaccine strategy committee this month. .
(Reporting by Krishna N. Das, edited by Toby Chopra and John Stonestreet)