Kerala Chief Minister on Saturday said that Kerala has always followed a Covid-19 defence strategy tailored to its specific requirements and perturbations and the State plans to achieve herd immunity by vaccinating at least 60-70 per cent of the persons in the 18+ age group over the ‘next few months.’

The State will ramp up the numbers to 2.5 to three lakh jabs per day in order to achieve its target. Currently, 43 per cent of the 18+ age group have received their first dose while at least 12 per cent have been given the second dose, Vijayan said.

Challenge of delta variant

Right from the beginning, the State’s strategy had sought to distinguish itself from that of the others in that it did not want to build herd immunity by means of allowing the disease to spread through any segment or segments of the population as this would result in unnecessary cases and deaths. This has ensured that the mortality has been maintained to a level which is one of the lowest in the country yet. But the low seroprevalence of 11.4 per cent as assessed by the ICMR had rendered a large majority of the population vulnerable, which proved costly as the delta variant struck.

The delta variant spread much faster in the State due to its enhanced virulence and also given the high population density and lack of any predominant rural-urban divide. Villages merge into towns and cities almost seamlessly which gave the delta variant vast and open corridor to transmit at double the pace.

‘Break-through’ infections

Since the delta variant is able to compromise the immunity of those who have either had previous infection or achieved it post-jab, many of them contracted mild reinfection or what has since come to be known as ‘break-through’ infections. Most active cases now belong to these categories. But the redeeming factor in this case is that the disease severity is reduced with even more reduced mortality. The vaccination drive has been among the fastest in the country with least minimum wastage.

Also read: 17 fresh samples test Zika virus-negative in Kerala

At no stage in the first or second wave has the State witnessed occupancy in hospitals cross 70 per cent of the capacity, the Chief Minister said. More than 90 per cent of the patients were given free treatment at government-owned hospitals.

‘Zika no cause for alarm’

With regard to Zika virus, of which 14 cases of infection have been confirmed, the Chief Minister said that this was not a totally unexpected given the known high concentrations of the causative Aedes mosquitoes. Vector control measures are being strengthened and expedited in the State. There is no cause of alarm here since patients can recover in a matter of days, although the virus is known to have deleterious implications for pregnant women.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW