With around 50 such cases, doctors stress on the need to wear mask and follow Covid-19 norms, especially for elderly and frequent flyers
Frequent travellers account for most breakthrough infections in those who have taken the booster dose. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
The city has been witnessing breakthrough COVID-19 infection among individuals who have taken the booster dose, but experts say the cases were mild, hence there is no need for alarm. Doctors at both civic-run and private hospitals have come across around 40-50 such patients in the past few days.
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Dr Smita Chavan, additional dean of SevenHills Hospital which has reported around 27 such cases, said, “Of the 27 patients with booster doses who contracted the infection, 19 got discharged within a week, four in eight days, one in nine days and one in 10 days to recover. Among these patients, 13 were in the age group of 22 to 40, 10 were aged between 41 and 59, while four were senior citizens. Even one of the doctors got infected with the virus.”
She added, “People are not wearing masks anymore and are not following COVID-appropriate behaviour, which is leading to infection.”
Additional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “We have reported a few cases where people got infected after taking the booster dose. Even the strongest person is required to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour. Though the government has eased mandatory use of masks, an advisory is still there. Today, we have COVID-19, but there may be some other illness in the future. So, masking must be an integral part of our lives. However, we are not putting any compulsion on wearing a mask right now.”
Experts said the vaccine is for prevention of complications and severity of the disease, and that it may or may not prevent contracting the disease. They further stressed on the need to wear masks and follow COVID-appropriate behaviour, especially for senior citizens and frequent flyers.
Dr Gautam Bhansali, chest physician at Bombay Hospital, said, “I have treated 12 to 13 cases and most of the patients are aged above 55 and are frequent travellers. They have mild symptoms such as fever and body ache, and none of them required hospitalisation. They are recovering within four to five days with simple medication, so there is no need to worry.”
Dr Harshad Limaye, senior consultant, internal medicine, Nanavati Max Super Speciality Hospital, said, “In the past five days, I’ve observed around 6-7 patients who contracted COVID-19 after taking the booster dose. All of them had mild symptoms and didn’t need hospitalisation. While a booster dose has substantially reduced infection severity, it cannot reduce the probability of exposure to the virus. Thus, people, especially high-risk groups, including senior citizens, pregnant women, and immunocompromised patients with chronic conditions, must wear masks, avoid crowded places and maintain hand hygiene.”
He added, “Multiple waves of different severity are common in the lifecycle of any viral infection, hence the recent rise in cases is not alarming. As the herd immunity and vaccine coverage get stronger, the infection severity will decrease.”
“It is true that people are getting infected even after taking a booster dose, but many of them are asymptomatic and came to know about the infection while going through routine check-ups, such as when they wanted to travel. Few patients have reported head and body ache, but nothing major,” said Dr Om Shrivastav, infectious diseases expert.
Booster doses for healthcare and frontline workers along with senior citizens started from January 10 and it is now available for all adults. As of Wednesday, 4,85,277 people have taken the booster dose, of which 1,59,810 are healthcare and frontline workers, 3,01,740 are senior citizens, 19,853 are aged between 45 and 59 years, and 2,358 are from the 18 to 44 age group.
27
No. of cases among booster beneficiaries at SevenHills hosp
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