No evidence of vaccine inefficacy against Omicron, Health Min Mandaviya informs RS

There is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informed the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, December 21. In a written reply to the upper house, Mandaviya however clarified that the efficacy of vaccines might be affected owing to a mutation in the spike gene of the virus. Responding to a question over the effectiveness of vaccines for immunity against Omicron, the minister said,

There are limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron. However, vaccine protection is also by antibodies as well as by cellular immunity, which is expected to be relatively better preserved.

Despite a few loopholes, Mandaviya emphasised that vaccines would still offer protection against severe Omicron cases and asserted that vaccination still should not be compromised.

Apart from vaccines, Mandaviya also spoke about the steps taken by the Centre following the inception of the new variant in India. He informed Rajya Sabha that his ministry, apart from reviewing the existing travel guidelines, has revised rules for the incoming travellers. On the basis of risk assessment, meaning the severity of the infection, the government has classified certain regions or countries as 'at-risk' and those bound to India from such countries will have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR and 7-day home quarantine.

The minister informed that those in quarantine will also be subjected to an RT-PCR test on the eight-day and will be monitored by state health authorities. In addition to this, random testing will be conducted on 2% of passengers flying in from 'non-at-risk' countries and the positive ones shall be subjected to Whole Genomic Sequencing to determine the presence of SARS-CoV-2 variants including Omicron. 

According to Mandaviya, the Central government has requested the state and UT authorities to ensure the implementation of measures such as strict monitoring of international travellers, contact tracing of positive individuals and follow up for 14 days and genome sequencing of positive samples.

Omicron cases cross the 150 mark in India

The number of Omicron patients in India has crossed the 150 mark in no time and the numbers inflated even more as Delhi reported six more cases. The national capital's tally now stands at 28, however, as many as 12 patients have been discharged, official sources informed. This comes after Karnataka verified five more cases on Sunday and its total tally stood at 19 apart from Maharasthra (54), Rajasthan (17) and Telangana (20).

Image: PTI