Double Vaccination 97.5% Effective in Preventing Covid Mortality: ICMR

NEW DELHI: Anti-Covid jabs available in India are around 97% effective in preventing mortality, whereas vaccination also significantly reduces hospitalisation, the assessment of real time vaccination data captured under Covid Vaccine tracker shows.

The soon to be launched tracker also provides data for government to monitor re-infection and breakthrough infection after vaccination, officials said.
Analysis of the data shows single dose of Covid vaccine is 96.6% effective in preventing death, whereas two shots of the jabs are 97.5% effective, the Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Balram Bhargava said.

“The vaccines are disease modifying in that they prevent serious disease and death. They are not disease preventing. So, breakthrough vaccinations will occur even after the vaccination and that is why we keep on recommending that even after vaccination one must continue to use mask and continue with Covid-appropriate behaviour,” said Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research.
The data analysed is for the period between April and August and does not distinguish between the different covid vaccines currently being administered in the country, Bhargava added.

The tracker combines data from Co-WIN, the national covid-19 testing database and the Covid-19 India portal of the health ministry to understand the trends in vaccination.

“The data so far has shown the same effectiveness across all age groups in preventing mortality,” Bhargava said.
Meanwhile, the causality assessment report of 88 reported serious adverse events following Covid immunisation shows 61 out of 88 cases have consistent causal association to vaccination. Of these 61 cases, 37 were vaccine product related reactions, whereas 22 cases were immunization anxiety related reactions, and 2 cases were immunization error related reaction.

Apart from these 61 cases, another 18 cases have inconsistent causal association to vaccination (coincidental — not linked to vaccination) including 3 death cases. Rest nine cases – of the total 88 cases – were in “indeterminate category” including 2 death cases, the AEFI report approved by the national AEFI committee on June 28 says.

Currently, Serum Institute of India’s Covishield constitutes majority of the doses administered in the country, followed by Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin that is gradually increasing supplies. There is also Russia’s Sputnik V administered in India.

Source: ToI