The Centre on Thursday said herd immunity in a country like India cannot be a strategic option and can only be achieved through immunization.
While speaking to the media in New Delhi, officer on special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Rajesh Bhushan said following the specified rules is the only option as of now to curb the coronavirus outbreak till a vaccine comes.
“For a large country like India, herd immunity cannot be a strategic choice or a strategic option. It will come at too high a cost and can be done only through immunisations via vaccination,” Bhushan said.
“Health Ministry thinks it’s possible in future but for now we’ve to follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour,” he added.
Regarding Covid-19 vaccines, he said three vaccine candidates are in phase three clinical trial.
“Three vaccine candidates are in phase 3 clinical trial. These are in US, UK and China. In India, two indigenously developed vaccine candidates are in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. Trial of first vaccine involves 1,150 subjects at eight sites while the second one involves 1,000 subjects at five sites,” he said.
“India has achieved the landmark of more than 10 lakh recoveries from COVID-19. This is a testament to the sheer dedication to duty and selfless sacrifice of doctors, nurses and all frontline healthcare workers which has made such a tremendous recovery of COVID-19 patients a reality,” Bhushan said.
Bhushan said 16 states of the country have a recovery rate that is more than the national average.
Of these, Delhi has recovery rate of 88%, Ladakh 80%, Haryana 78%, Assam 76%, Telangana 74%, Tamil Nadu & Gujarat 73%, Rajasthan 70%, MP 69% and Goa 68%, he said.