Urging people yet again to get their booster Covid-19 vaccine dose, top infectious disease expert Dr Faheem Younus has warned that the Omicron variant is not mild and can cause long-term effects.
In a Twitter post, Younus said: “Omicron is NOT *mild.* It can cause long-term symptoms, 10s of 1000s of deaths, Severe disease in many, Healthcare systems to collapse, No lasting immunity against reinfections (sic)."
“Get boosted and stay cautious for a few weeks. Let this wave pass, then return to normal (sic)," added the doctor.
Younus had earlier this week also shared data and urged people to get “boosted".
"Look. Then go get your booster," wrote the top US expert on Twitter while sharing a post that said: "Switzerland has begun reporting Covid deaths among three different groups of people: unvaccinated; vaccinated but not boosted; and boosted. "
The warning comes amid the Union health ministry informing that 95% of India's eligible adult population has been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine while 74% are fully inoculated. The total vaccine doses administered has crossed 164.35 crore.
As many as 1,03,04,847 precaution doses have been administered to healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities.
Also, 4,42,81,254 adolescents in the 15-18 years age group have been given the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Meanwhile, the Centre also stated that early indications of Covid cases plateauing have been reported in some places but the trend needs to be observed.
It noted that 400 districts have logged over 10% positivity rate in the week ending 26 January.
Stressing the need to continue with precautions to curb the surge in infections, it said that Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan were recording a high number of Covid cases and positivity.
Simultaneously, a decline in Covid cases and positivity rate have been observed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal.
In a press conference, government officials presented a comparison of the key indices during the second and third surge of Covid infections in India.
It showed that on 7 May last year, at the peak of the second wave, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,679 deaths were reported. As many as 17,40,446 tests were carried out on that day and the proportion of fully vaccinated people was approximately 3%.
On 21 January this year, 3,47,254 new cases and 435 deaths were reported. A total of 19,35,912 tests were reportedly carried out on the day and the proportion of fully vaccinated people was approximately 75%.
