On thursday, the experts from Indian Public Health Association (IPHA), along with Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSM) and Indian Association of Epidemiologists (IAE) submitted a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which said that mass, indiscriminate and incomplete vaccination can trigger emergence of mutant strains and recommended that there is no need to inoculate those who had documented Covid infection.
According to the reports, vaccinating the vulnerable and those are at risk, instead of mass population-wide inoculation including children, should be the aim at present for the government.
Additionally, the expert panel said, “The present situation of the pandemic in the country demands that we should be guided by the logistics and epidemiological data to prioritise vaccination rather than opening vaccination for all age groups at this stage.”
“Opening all fronts simultaneously will drain human and other resources and would be spreading it too thin to make an impact at the population level,” the panel said.
As per the report, highlighting that vaccination of young adults and children is not supported by evidence and would not be cost effective, they said unplanned inoculation can promote mutant strains.
“Mass, indiscriminate, and incomplete vaccination can also trigger emergence of mutant strains. Given the rapid transmission of infection in various parts of the country, it is unlikely that mass vaccination of all adults will catch up with the pace of natural infection among our young population,” they said in the report to PM Modi.
