Healthcare and frontline workers, as well as people over 60 with health problems lined up at India’s vaccination centers on Monday to receive the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine when a increase in infections linked to the omicron variant.
The doses, which Indian authorities call “preventive” rather than a booster, are applied as new confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 179,000 on Monday, an increase of nearly eight times in a week. Hospitalizations, while still relatively low, are also beginning to rise in large and highly populated cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Doctor Ravindra Kumar Dewan, who heads the National Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases in New Delhi, trained to receive the injection. He said the reinforcements are a “considerable step” because much is still unknown about the omicron variant.
“Yesterday, mortality … has increased in New Delhi. So, it remains to be seen if our health system will be overwhelmed or not, “he stressed.
India is now better prepared than last year, when the delta variant overtook hospitals. When cases skyrocketed in March last year, not even 1% of its roughly 1.4 billion residents were fully vaccinated. Due to India’s decrepit medical infrastructure, millions of people are likely to have died.
Since then, the government has supported the health care system, built oxygen plants and added hospital beds. About 47% of the population is now fully vaccinated and many have antibodies from previous infections.
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