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Covid-19: AIIMS chief Dr Guleria says focus on vaccinating more people, booster doses can wait
“So I think the issue should be to vaccinate as many individuals as possible, rather than going in for three shots, four shots and trying different things," Dr Randeep Guleria said.
Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Dr Randeep Guleria has said that India should now focus on vaccinating as many people as possible against the Covid-19 disease to contain its transmission and that the idea of providing a booster dose can wait for now.
The remarks were made by Dr Guleria during a virtual programme organised by the Integrated Health and Wellbeing Council to discuss the emerging Covid-19 therapies on Wednesday.
Also read | 'Don't have enough data': Dr Guleria on if Covid vaccine booster needed in India
“I think we should focus on vaccinating those who have not been vaccinated till now, especially the high-risk group. Still many healthcare workers, many elderly and those with comorbidities have not been vaccinated, and they are the ones who have a chance of having more severe disease and dying because of Covid-19,” news agency ANI quoted the AIIMS chief as saying during the meeting. Further, Guleria said that rather than exploring boosters, if more beneficiaries were vaccinated, "we may be able to save lives.”
“So I think the issue should be to vaccinate as many individuals as possible, rather than going in for three shots, four shots and trying different things, I think, let's stick to what we know right now, and focus on vaccinating as many people as we can,” he added.
Briefing on the third wave of infections, he said that if the vaccinations continue in good strength and based on the serosurvey data, there might not be as many cases in the likely third wave of infections. “My feeling is that if we are able to continue to have good vaccination and looking at the serosurvey data, chances are that we may not have that many cases in the third wave,” he added.
The comments came even as more than 610 million doses of the vaccine have been administered to beneficiaries in the country, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said on Thursday. Also, 46,164 new cases were reported in India in the last 24 hours and the active caseload was recorded at 333,725, according to the latest data
