NEW DELHI, Mar 4 (NNN-PTI) – Chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Balram Bhargava, said, unvaccinated people account for 92 percent of COVID-19 deaths this year in India.
“During 2022, unvaccinated individuals were 92 percent responsible for all the deaths,” he told a press briefing.
Quoting a study on the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in preventing mortality, Bhargava said, the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine is 98.9 percent effective, and if both doses are given, the effectiveness is 99.3 percent.
V.K. Paul, member of think-tank National Institution for Transforming India (NITI), Aayog (commission), said, vaccines have played a vital role in the fight against COVID-19.
“It is evident that vaccines and the wide vaccination coverage have played a very important role in protecting hundreds of lives. The vaccine has protected the nation from a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases,” he said.
According to officials, COVID-19 deaths have seen a sharp fall in India.
“On an average, 10,787 daily deaths were reported around the world during Feb 2-8, which have now declined to 8,300 daily deaths from Feb 23 to Mar 1, 2022,” senior health ministry official, Lav Agarwal, told the media. “India reported a sharper decline in deaths reported (76.6 percent) as compared to the world (22.8 percent).”
The ongoing third wave of COVID-19 in India has gone sluggish, as the daily caseload of new infections is showing a downward spiral.
The Indian health ministry said yesterday, 6,561 new cases and 142 COVID-19 related deaths were reported from across the country during the past 24 hours.– NNN-PTI
