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Vaccines are powerful but not perfect tools

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December 04, 2020

Why in news?

The buzz around the arrival of COVID-19 vaccine needs to be seen with a bigger picture.

Will vaccines be effective in breaking the transmission of the disease?

  • Historically, in many diseases, vaccination models have failed to break disease transmission.
  • Currently Moderna vaccine, AstraZeneca vaccine & Pfizer vaccine are waiting for regulatory clearances.
  • AstraZeneca vaccine has shown 90% efficacy for two doses when compared to 70% for a single dose.
  • Also it is unknown that post vaccination for how long does the immunity lasts, as significant number of patient’s post-COVID infection have failed to show any antibodies against the virus.

What are the challenges of vaccinating people in a diverse country like India?

  • Vaccination of a huge population in India is a mammoth exercise as it is dependent on a large number of socio-economic and biological factors.
  • People differ in demographic variables, in nutritional status and in their biological responses to immunisation.
  • There is also gender variability as boys generally receive higher vaccination coverage than girls- reported by most surveys conducted across the country for childhood immunisation.
  • Poor nutrition in India is also found to be a significant cause of immunisation failure.
  • Despite having a robust, well-integrated Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), its coverage has never gone beyond 60-65%.
  • How far we will be able to achieve a near 90% coverage with the COVID-19 vaccine is questionable.
  • Also there will be gaps in the logistics of giving the vaccine to such a huge population & in service delivery.
  • Therefore, evidence based informed policymaking regarding the vaccine, a transparent and uniform accountability system to monitor the vaccine distribution and application is the need of the hour.

 

 

Source: The Indian Express

 

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