The number of cases remains in double digits for our peace of mind. The country is aware that no one is safe despite the decline of cases. Vaccination remains important for protection.
Positives
As of today, the positivity rate is 24 and the admission rate is 5 in regional hospitals only. The vaccination rate for this Thursday 14 April is 1, 006, 718 for the first dose, 972 074 for the second and 613 838 for the third. The rate for the second Booster dose will soon be added to this daily list. The fourth dose was launched on Wednesday 13 April. For the time being, there are no long queues in front of the treatment centres, even though many people have already had their booster dose for more than 6 months, especially the elderly and special cases considered as highly vulnerable.
Realities at New ENT Hospital
Dr Soobaraj Sok Appadu, National Covid-19 Coordinator and Director of the ENT Hospital said that most of the patients admitted are either over 60 years of age or suffer from several forms of co-morbidities. He also added that the majority of patients are either unvaccinated or partially vaccinated. He promises and promotes that vaccines protect against severe forms of the disease.
4th dose recommended, for now
Concerning the 4th dose, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal said at the launch at the SVICC in Pailles that for now, this second booster dose is only a recommendation but it will soon be extended to other age groups. He still recommends barrier measures, especially with the arrival of the winter season. “Maintaining barrier measures to avoid any spread of the virus is very important. The virus continues to spread as our activities return to normal. But we are confident that we will get through the winter without much difficulty,” he said. These vaccinations are being done in the 14 centres and 5 hospitals across the country.
Only 1576 adverse reactions
The Minister defends the vaccine tooth and nail. During the parliamentary session, he reassured the population that “a total of 1,576 people have developed side effects after receiving a Covid-19 vaccine since the beginning of the vaccination campaign until March 2022. The majority of adverse events were recorded in people, who were injected with AstraZeneca/Covishield. There were 869 cases reported. Sinopharm had 367 cases, 263 for Covaxin, 44 for Johnson & Johnson, 14 for Sputnik V, 19 for Pfizer and 0 for Moderna,” he said. Astra Zeneca caused 2 cases, 1 of which died of its symptoms.
3rd dose of Pfizer for 5 to 11-year olds
Pfizer-BioNTech announced on Thursday that the results of its clinical trials are positive for the booster dose for 5 to 11-year olds. The laboratory plans to file an application for authorization in the next few days in the United States, then elsewhere in the world. The paediatric injection dose worldwide is 3 micrograms per injection. Even after two doses, this is not sufficient for the immune system to protect against Covid and its variants. This age group requires at least 10 micrograms. For 12 and above, the required dose is 30 micrograms.
