More fully vaccinated patients at Kolkata hospitals, but Covid severity less – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: Fully vaccinated Covid patients admitted across Kolkata’s private hospitals now outnumber those who have got a single dose or none at all though the severity of infection is most pronounced among those in the last group.
Doctors say breakthrough infections (Covid despite inoculation) are expected but their number will remain small in proportion to the total number of affected and the mortality rate among them will be far lower than those yet to receive a dose. Pointing out that few of these fully vaccinated patients have life-threatening symptoms, the doctors say that anxiety is often leading family members to get them admitted and this shouldn’t be interpreted as a failure of the vaccine.
At Woodlands Hospital, nine out of 15 Covid patients now admitted have taken both doses of the vaccine, said managing director Rupali Basu. “Two patients have taken single dose and four have not taken any shots. The degree of severity varies according to the number of doses and those yet to get any dose have been most severely affected,” Basu said.
Five of nine Covid patients at Belle Vue Clinic have got both vaccines. Three have got a single shot. At CMRI Hospital, of the 15 Covid patients, nine have completed their vaccination while three have received their first dose. The other three haven’t got any vaccine yet.
A third of the 21 patients admitted at Medica Superspecialty Hospital have received both doses. A majority of the rest have got a single shot and few among them have got a severe disease, said Medica chairperson Alok Roy.
Medica’s Alok Roy said, “The numbers are rising very slowly and since almost everyone in Kolkata has got at least one dose, infections have so far been mild,”
Out of 34 Covid patients now admitted across the three units of AMRI Hospitals, 18 are in ITU. Here, the majority are those who have got just one jab. “Around 30% of our patients have completed their vaccination while 60% have got a single dose. The remaining 10% are yet to get a shot. Despite double vaccination, several have got a moderate to severe disease. But the total number of patients remain stable and fairly small,” said AMRI CEO Rupak Barua.
“Despite double vaccination, some have symptoms like high fever, diarrhoea and loss of smell which are leading to anxiety among family members who are not willing to take chances. These patients don’t have a severe disease or life-threatening symptoms like breathing distress or lung fibrosis, thanks to the vaccine. So, I wouldn’t interpret this as a failure of the vaccine” said CMRI director of pulmonology Raja Dhar.
Six out of eight patients admitted at RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) are double-vaccinated. “We have 5 patients at the general ward, of whom four have got both shots. Two out of three in critical care are double-vaccinated,” said RTIICS zonal head R Venkatesh.
At Peerless Hospital, nine out of 22 patients have completed their vaccination, seven have got their first dose and six are yet to be inoculated.
Rather than the number of patients, it is the number of casualties which should be watched post-vaccination, pointed out Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) professor Diptendra Sarkar. “Breakthrough infections will continue but their number will remain small due to vaccination. Most importantly, severity of the disease will be less and there will far fewer deaths than what we have seen during the second wave,” said Sarkar.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/more-fully-vaxxed-patients-at-city-hosps-but-cov-severity-less/articleshow/85992484.cms