Kerala district government officials in Pathanamthitta have so far reported more than 20,000 infections or breakthrough infections in people vaccinated against Covid19, county government officials told the media. Of these, 5,042 infections occurred after patients received both doses of the vaccine, of which 258 were positive two weeks after being fully vaccinated. Likewise, 14,974 cases occurred in people who received only one dose, of which 4,490 tested positive two weeks after injection. The two week period is important because it takes a long time for the human body to make antibodies against the virus.
The district administers both Covaxin and AstraZeneca Covishield.
Confirming the numbers, said Dr Divya Iyer, Pathanamthitta County Collector, “We have evaluated this regularly. Maybe these breakthrough infections really show that our vaccination strategy is right… we have targeted diseases that require coverage and are at high risk.
The region has a large population of elderly residents, as highlighted by the centre group which recently visited during a trip to Kerala to assess the state's Covid19 situation.
“So far we have vaccinated 86% of our population with a single dose and 51% with both doses of the vaccine. Each month we submit about 50 samples for sequencing and so far we have not discovered any newer variants than the delta variant, ”she added.
The problem of breakthrough infection in Kerala was pointed out by the core group in the report to the government of India. In a letter to Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a copy of which was shared with media, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday:
“Effective monitoring of compliance with confidential practices is appropriate. -vaccination is essential as well as the need for mutant infection. Samples to be submitted to INSACOG Laboratories for routine genome sequencing. "