A health worker administers a dose of COVID-19 vaccine to a beneficiary at a vaccination centre in a school, in Patiala on May 23, 2021. (PTI Photo)
New Delhi, May 23 (PTI): Encouraging all eligible persons to get inoculated against Covid, Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said vaccination acts as a "great buffer" against infection severity and therefore, there is no alternative to it.
Singh, who is a noted physician and diabetologist, cited medical studies which have drawn the inference that inoculation against COVID-19 "does not produce a shield" against the deadly virus, but helps reduce severity of the disease and also reduces chances of one suffering life-threatening complications.
He said there is no alternative to vaccination and it carries advantage for every individual who is eligible for it.
"Covid infection, if it happens after vaccination, may be less severe and therefore, even if the vaccination may not give 100 per cent protection against the corona infection, it might still serve as a great buffer to the severity or virulence of the disease," Singh, who is the minister of state for personnel, said.
He said there have been a number of cases of infection reported post-vaccination, even after taking two doses, and he was himself one such case who contracted the infection after taking both the doses.
But, the minister said, these cases are largely said to have relatively milder symptoms, with reduced chances of severity and mortality.
Singh cautioned that many people after vaccination, think that they are now immune to the infection and as a result of it, they stop wearing face masks or they do not wear it properly.
"But the catch here is that the virus first attacks the nasal passages and then the lungs and therefore, if the nose and mouth are exposed, the chances of getting infection after vaccination are still there," he said.
Singh added that immunity levels vary from person to person and so does one's level and extent of exposure to the virus.
"This could also be a factor in getting infected after the first or the second dose of vaccine. Similarly, the associated co-morbidities could also play a role," he said.
