COVID vaccines are not disease-preventing but disease-modifying: ICMR Chief
New Delhi: Balram Bhargava, Director, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said on Thursday that Covid vaccines are not 'disease-preventing' but 'disease-modifying', so it is important to continue wearing masks even after the second dose of vaccination.
Bhargava was addressing a press conference of the Union Health Ministry on the Covid situation in the country.
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"Vaccines reduce disease severity, possibility of hospitalisation and also avert deaths to the tune of 98-99 per cent. Full vaccination offers protection against severe disease and death and should be a pre-requisite if attending a gathering," Bhargav said.
Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that India is still under the grip of the second Covid wave.
In the past 24 hours, India logged 46,000 fresh Covid cases, of which 58 per cent were reported from Kerala alone, Bhushan said.
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