Omicron mild in double vaccinated: Sudhakar

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K. Sudhakar said the state government was awaiting the laboratory reports of ten persons who were primary and secondary contacts of the two Omicron patients detected in the state so far.

He told reporters here on Monday that the Genome Sequence report of those who had come in contact with the infected person has not arrived yet. The primary and secondary contacts of the infected too, do not have any problems or symptoms. The infected person is being treated at Bowring Hospital and that he is in regular contact with the hospital director. Those who came in contact with the Omicron infected have received both vaccine doses.

The minister said the severity of Omicron infection would be low in those who have taken two-doses of the vaccine and the mild symptoms of contacts of the infected is proof of this. A single dose of the vaccine will not provide complete immunity and so all those eligible must take the vaccine at the earliest, he said.

He said as far as the Omicron variant is concerned, there was no need to worry too much about it. The State has dealt with the Delta variant effectively which is more dangerous than the Omicron variant. The infection has not found to be severe anywhere in the world. Countries with a high incidence of Omicron infections, including Botswana and South Africa, too have not witnessed any severe cases, he added.

However Omicron spreads very quickly and vaccination is necessary to stop the spread. The percentage of those who have got the first dose of vaccine in Karnataka is over 93% and those who have got the 2nd dose too is 64%. Karnataka ranks third in the country in vaccination coverage and the vaccine program is scheduled to be completed by the end of December. “We still have about 70 lakh vaccines in stock. Everyone should voluntarily get vaccinated’’, he said.

Sudhakar also said that the history of any pandemic shows that the 2nd wave is always huge while the 3rd wave is less impactful. In fact, the Delta variant had no effect on children and experts say that even if children are infected, it will be mild.