Ease lockdown only in districts with less than 5% positivity rate, says ICMR
ICMR said that the un-lockdown process should happen in a district where the positivity rate is below 5 per cent, above 70 per cent the vulnerable group - persons from and above the ages of 60 and 45 with comorbidities - have been vaccinated, and there is community ownership of COVID appropriate behaviour.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 1 Jun 2021 12:08 PM GMT
New Delhi: The Central government on Tuesday clarified that the un-lockdown process should happen gradually. Dr Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that the un-lockdown process should happen in a district where the positivity rate is below 5 percent, above 70 percent the vulnerable group - persons from and above the ages of 60 and 45 with comorbidities - have been vaccinated, and there is community ownership of COVID appropriate behaviour.
As many as 239 districts in the country have more than 10 percent positivity rate and 350 districts have less than 5 percent positivity rate.
"We have suppressed the virus at the moment. So gradual lifting will not witness a massive surge if we have to ensure vaccination will be prioritised. The situation in June will be better and stabilised. But it depends on how we behave once the restrictions are lifted," Dr Bharagava said. He said that to provide vaccines to every individual in the country by the end of the year the country has to vaccinate more than a crore population from July end.
Meanwhile, Dr V.K. Paul, member (Health), NITI Aayog clarified that there will be no mixing of COVID-19 vaccines in India until enough scientific evidence on their effectiveness is gathered. He also said that there is no change in the protocol for vaccination and all beneficiaries will get two doses of Covishield and Covaxin.
These clarifications come amid concerns triggered by some recent comments made by senior officials indicating that the government may consider doing away with the second dose of Covishield. "This action is possibly useful, but severe reaction and harm cannot be ruled out. So, we are waiting for more research and data," said Dr Paul.
