INDIA ON GUARD

THE SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19 CAUGHT US LACKING AND SLACKING. REINING IN A RESURGENT VIRUS WOULD NEED BETTER ADHERENCE TO SAFETY PROTOCOLS AND A MORE NUANCED APPROACH TO VACCINATION

- REKHA DIXIT

Oorjita Lath had not stepped out of her Gurugram house or met anyone since mid-March. But on April 1, when vaccinations opened up for the 45+ age group, she went to a facility nearby to get her shot. A day later, she had fever, fatigue and aches that people said were known side-effects of the vaccine. When, five days later, her condition had not improved, she consulted a doctor through telemedicine, who recommended she get a Covid-19 test done. She tested positive. Subsequently, so did her husband and two daughters, all of whom are in home isolation, grappling with bone-breaking pain and fever. The doctor feels she picked up the bug from the vaccination centre.

Lath may have got the bug because the vaccine had not even had time to get cracking with producing antibodies. But across hospitals, doctors and health workers are testing positive in droves, despite having received both doses of the vaccine. A few had to be admitted, too, because of existing comorbidities. Reinfections in patients—around 1 per cent—may not be that rampant, but the numbers are enough to establish that acquired immunity does not last long. And at a time when fresh cases are rising, reinfections add to the load.