It is heartening that doctors here have said that there is no need to panic in light of surging Covid-19 cases in various countries. Doctors say that people in Kashmir have hybrid immunity because of a combination of widespread natural infection and vaccination against Covid 19.
Hybrid immunity offers robust and long lasting protection against Covid-19, doctors said. Refereeing to a new study, they added that people with hybrid immunity developed by both vaccination and previous infections have significant protection against future Covid infections.
The research has found that a major and durable immune response occurs if a person has been both vaccinated and got infected with the virus. Doctors said that more than 90 percent of the population in Kashmir is vaccinated and people have contracted the virus more than once during three Covid-19 waves that we witnessed since the beginning of the pandemic.
However, the doctors have advised for enhancing genome sequencing of Covid-19 to look for newer variants. So according to these experts, there is an urgent need to set up a genetic testing lab in Kashmir to detect and track Covid-19 variants.
As reiterated time and again, that people should not be complacent vis-à-vis the spread o Covid-19. Application of Covid appropriate behaviour is the need of the hour. We need to use masks while going outside home, wash our hands frequently, and maintain distance with the other people as per the Covid protocol.
Similarly, the government must also do its bit. Mock drills are okay but we need to be very alert on ground when it comes to the availability of men and machinery. Infrastructure plays a key role in tackling such exigencies.
We have already witnessed how the healthcare system in the country collapsed during the first and second wave of the Covid. It was not because our healthcare institutions had no infrastructure but the level of emergency was so high that even the world’s best healthcare facilities like in the US and Italy crumbled like a pack of cards.
So in order to combat any kind of eventuality, the LG administration needs to take reviews of the healthcare needs in such a situation on a regular basis.
