Herd immunity in a country with the size and population of India cannot be a strategic option, said the Government on Thursday while asserting that it can only be achieved through immunisation.
“Health ministry thinks it is possible in future but for now, we have to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour,” said Secretary, Ministry of Health, Rajesh Bhushan.
Herd immunity refers to the situation when the spread of a disease is stopped naturally when enough of the population becomes resistant to the virus and not enough people are able to transmit it.
Briefing media on the Coronavirus situation in the country, the health ministry official said that the recovery rate has shown positive trends and currently stands at 64.4 per cent. It was 7.85 per cent in April, he said.
Sixteen states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average.
Delhi, which was the second worst-hit state for almost two months, has the highest recovery rate at 88 per cent. The national capital is followed by Ladakh (80%), Haryana (78%), Assam (76%), Telangana (74%), Tamil Nadu and Gujarat (73%), Rajasthan (70%), Madhya Pradesh (69%) and Goa (68%).
More than one million people have recovered from Coronavirus in the country, Bhushan said, and attributed this landmark achievement to the selfless work and dedication of doctors, nurses and frontline workers.
The case fatality rate in India today is 2.21 per cent and is among the lowest in the world. Twenty four states and Union Territories have lesser fatality rate than that of the country, the official added.
These states have less than a 10 per cent positivity rate. Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir have a positivity rate of less than 5 per cent.
The health ministry further informed that over 1,81,90,000 tests have been conducted in the country including RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests.
There has been week-on-week increase in average tests per day. India is conducting 324 test per 10 lakh population per day, the health secretary said.
The Health Ministry said there are currently 24 vaccine candidates that are in clinical evaluation stage in the world.
Elaborating on the same, Rajesh Bhushan said three vaccine candidates are in phase 3 clinical trial, which are in the US, the UK and China.
Two vaccines being developed in India are currently in Phase 1 and 2 of trials to test if they are safe for humans. Trial of the first vaccine involves 1150 subjects at eight sites while the 2nd on 1000 subjects at five sites.
On being asked if there has been any discussion of prioritising how a vaccine would be distributed or administered if and when it becomes available, Bhushan said, “There are multiple stakeholders within and outside the Government and the Ministry of Health has started actively engaging with such stakeholders”.
COVID-19 vaccine, whenever it comes, will have to be administered on a much larger scale compared to the existing vaccines, the official said and added, “This is something on which there is near unanimity”.
India on Thursday recorded the highest single-day spike of 52,123 Coronavirus cases in 24 hours taking the total number of infections to 15,83,792.
As many as 775 people died in the same period taking the death toll to 34,968. However, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has pointed out that more than 70 per cent of deaths are “due to comorbidities”.
Of the total number of cases, 5,28,242 are active while a whopping 10,20,582 people have been cured of the deadly infection that originated from China’s Wuhan in December last and gripped the entire world.
Meanwhile, hopes of ‘herd immunity’ has risen after the encouraging results of the first Serological Surveillance for SARS-CoV2 Infection in Mumbai.
The results of the first survey in early-July, conducted in Mumbai slums and other residential areas, have tentatively pointed toward ‘herd immunity’.
The survey showed that 57 per cent of those tested in the slums were exposed to and developed antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 Virus, compared to merely 16 per cent in housing complexes.
Among other things, it pointed at women and slumdwellers leading the march towards a ‘herd immunity’ against COVID-19 in Mumbai – the country’s worst-hit city.
The study was conducted jointly by the NITI Aayog, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. Samples were collected from volunteers in three municipal wards.