The triaging of thousands of patients over a three month period by corporation health officers in Bengaluru has shown that more unvaccinated individuals are ending up in the ICU than those with at least one dose of a vaccine.
The issue of vaccinations reached new urgency on Thursday following the disclosure that two Omicron cases had been found in the state, leading to officials calling for unvaccinated individuals to rush for getting their doses.
Researchers have previously said Omicron could cause more breakthrough infections.
Between August 8 and November 27, BBMP triaged 12,400 people with Covid-19, out of which 2,856 were not vaccinated and another 2,953 had only one dose.
Within the unvaccinated group, 94.7% developed only mild or moderate symptoms allowing them to either isolate themselves at home, go to a Covid care centre (CCC) or seek out a general bed at a hospital for observation.
However, 102 required treatment in a high dependency unit (HDU) bed, while a further 47 required an ICU or an ICU-ventilator bed.
“In comparison, 98.7% of people who have been fully vaccinated had developed only minor symptoms, allowing them to isolate at home, go to a CCC or require only a general bed at a hospital,” said Dr Balasundar A S, chief health officer, BBMP.
In the vaccinated group, out of 7,162 people who had taken Covishield, 2,505 were only partially vaccinated. Among these, 46 required a HDU bed, while 10 required an ICU/ICU-V bed.
Among 1,725 people who had taken Covaxin, 145 had one dose. Out of these, two people were placed on a HDU bed, while none required an ICU or ICU-V bed.
In total, about 98.03% of partially vaccinated individuals could be isolated at home or seek a general bed, while 1.97% developed serious health problems.
For a relatively small sample size of 127 people who had been dosed in other vaccines such as Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik, Sinopharm...etc, the BBMP did not note any hospitalisations of any sort among the partly and fully vaccinated.
Breakthrough infections
However, the matter of breakthrough infections remains a concern with more individuals fully vaccinated requiring HDU or ICU/ICU-V beds than even partially vaccinated individuals (17 people with Covaxin and 63 with Covishield).
According to Dr Ravindra Mehta, Chief of Pulmonology and Critical Care Services at Apollo Hospital (Jayanagar), most of the patients turning up at the hospital with the disease are fully vaccinated.
“Most of them are middle-aged or older with comorbidities, but a portion of younger people are also turning up. In 4-5% of them, we have seen vaccine failure in that no antibodies have been generated at all,” Dr Mehta said.
‘Unvaccinated may be barred’
Dr Thrilok Chandra, special commissioner (BBMP), said that the government could soon release a circular which would make it difficult, if not impossible for people to go to places of recreation and shops without having two doses of a vaccine.
“We have been speaking with business and associations to ensure compliance of this instruction when it comes,” he told DH.
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