CHENNAI: About 12% of people became infected with Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated, according to a report released by Tamil Nadu Directorate of Public Health and Preventing Medicine on Sunday.
The state had collected 1,159 samples from all districts between December 2020 and March 2021.
They were referred to the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (InSTEM), Bengaluru, for Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS).
Results of 554 samples available so far showed 66 were vaccine breakthrough cases.
Among them, 55 (83%) were infected by delta variants despite vaccination.
“This indicates that we need to watch this variant,” said Dr P Ganeshkumar from the National institute of Epidemiology.
Experts, however, say it is too early to come to any conclusion as the sample size was inadequate.
Chennai-based infectious diseases expert Dr Subramanian Swaminathan said that four months is a long period during a pandemic as many things kept changing.
“It is way too early to come to a definitive judgment with these numbers,” he said.
Public health expert Dr K Kolandaisamy too said it was early to draw any inference from it and there was no need to worry unless the results suggest change in preventive methods or treatments.
The state needs to establish its own genome sequencing labs in at least three different places.
Madurai Medical College, the state public health lab and King’s Institute of Preventing Medicine in Chennai are potential locations for even future needs, he said.
Another finding released by TN was that the delta variant was more among adolescents and adults (81%) compared to children (19%).
Dr Balasubramanian of Kanchi Kamakoti Child Trust Hospital said, “With the older people getting vaccinated and more middle-aged people getting infected, the virus is looking for revenue from the other ages.
So the percentage of children getting infected might be more but those requiring hospitalisation will be less than 5%, he said.