The National Institute of Disaster Management, which is a body working under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, in a report submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), said that India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive needed to speed up amid speculations of third wave.
Citing studies from different institutes, the report noted that India might cross 6 lakh positive cases per day during the third wave.
Earlier, NIDM had said that third of COVID-19 would be at peak in the month of October, which would be worse than second wave.
According to the Home Ministry, India’s vaccination rate is higher than that of US and UK. On the contrary, NIDM suggested that only 7.6% citizens were fully vaccinated and the rate must be increased at the earliest.
India’s current vaccination rate is 3.2% and if, the rate does not improve, India might see 6 lakh positive cases per day, said the report.
In addition to this, it said that if government could administer 1 crore doses per day, then India would see only 25% of the cases (seen during second wave) during third wave peak.
It furthermore stated that strengthening of the medical infrastructure in India required immediate attention? to fight against the third wave. The third wave, which would be vulnerable to kids, would require highly skilled medical staff and equipment to deal with the upcoming situations, it added.
In various reports, it was seen that people who were fully vaccinated, still got infected with Coronavirus. NIDMs report also suggested that regardless of being fully vaccinated, people must follow COVID Appropriate Behaviour.
Lastly, the report called for vaccination of pregnant and lactating women along with children with pre-conditions. School staff and teachers should be vaccinated as essential workers, it concluded.