No Need To Vaccinate The People Who Have Documented COVID-19 Infection As They Have Developed Natural Immunity: Says AIIMS Professor

HEAL Health, a healthcare service provider, organised the Vaccination E-Summit to raise awareness about the Covid-19 vaccines in association with ICCIDD and knowledge partner HEAL Foundation.

Speaking in the keynote address at India for Vaccination e-Summit, the 15th Episode of HEAL-Thy Samvaad, Padma Bhushan, Prof. G Padmanaban, Former Director, IISc, President NASI, Chancellor CUTN, NASI Senior Scientist, Dept. of Biochemistry, IISc, Bangalore, Senior Science Innovation Adviser, BIRAC, Department of Biotechnology, GoI said, “The RNA  vaccine is superior to the DNA Vaccine because mRNA goes into the cell, and the cell translates it into proteins, which are the ones that the organism sees and induces the immune response. With a DNA vaccine, the virus’ genetic information is transmitted to another molecule that is called the messenger RNA (mRNA). There shouldn’t be any vaccination hesitancy. The bulk of the Indian population should go for vaccination. Vaccination is essential to fight the battle against coronavirus.”

Speaking in the 1st session of India for Vaccination e-Summit, the Episode-15 of HEAL-Thy Samvaad and elaborating on who all should be vaccinated and who need not, Dr Prof. Sanjay Rai, Professor, Dept. of Community Medicine, AIIMS, President, IPHA said, “No need to vaccinate the people who have documented COVID-19 infection because they have developed natural immunity. Use the vaccines judiciously as they are precious. It is scientifically proven that natural immunity supports. As per Sero Surveillance, 25% population are infected, and in major metro cities like Delhi, 50% are infected including 60% of children. As per Indian data, we don’t believe that the second or the third wave of COVID strain will take place.”

Speaking on the judicious use of vaccines during India for Vaccination e-Summit, the HEAL-Thy Samvaad, Episode-15, Dr (Prof) Amitav Banerjee, Professor & Head of Community Medicine, Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune, said, “Vaccines is strong artillery, so, it should be deployed strategically in the war against the pandemic. We need to use the vaccines judiciously. It is not required for everyone. We have certain advantages over other countries, which will help us plan our strategy against COVID-19 efficiently. We have a higher percentage of young population compared to western countries, which is much less susceptible to COVID-19. Given the present plummeting trends of COVID-19 cases in our country, we can afford to wait and watch rather than going for indiscriminate mass vaccination.”

While speaking on the significance and the utility of vaccines during India for Vaccination e-Summit, the HEAL-Thy Samvaad, Episode-15, Dr. Karthik Anantharaman, Cluster Head, South India, Roche Pharma, said, “There is an analogy about COVID vaccines compared to the seat belt. The COVID vaccine is just like a seat belt we use while driving a car. A seat belt can’t resist the accident, but it can reduce the impact of the accident. Likewise, vaccines can’t resist the infection, but it can reduce its impact. This shows the similarity between the seat belt and the vaccine. So, after vaccination, it is not desirable to turn casual and don’t follow preventive measures. Even after vaccination, Sanitising, Mask & Social Distancing (SMS) must be followed strictly.”

While moderating India for Vaccination e-Summit, the HEAL-Thy Samvaad, Episode-15, Dr Swadeep Srivastava, Founder, HEAL Health said, “As we have been educating the people through our COVID Fighters Public Health Safety Movement, which we started last year in the month of April in the wake of the outbreak of COVID-19 in India, we have organised India for Vaccination E-Summit to provide the right information to the people on vaccination. We have also created a wall of vaccine torchbearers who have been already vaccinated, sharing their experiences regarding vaccination and its essence for the masses to fight against coronavirus. In over 300 days of the movement, we have brought together a pool of eminent public health experts from across the spectrum to discuss and make the people aware of the emanating health issues related to COVID and beyond.”