70% Vaccinated With Booster Dose Didn't Get Covid-19 During Third Wave: Study

"Of the 5,971 people, 2,383 took the booster dose and 30 per cent of them reported Covid during the third wave," the study said.

New Delhi: A recent study has revealed that as many as 70 per cent people who were administered with the booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine did not contract the the virus during the third wave. The results were announced after a survey conducted on nearly 6,000 people across the country.

The survey comes weeks after Union Health Ministry announced the rollout of the precautionary third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for the 18-plus population at private vaccination centres from April 10.

Headed by Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association's national task force on coronavirus, the survey also stated that 45 per cent of the people who did not take a precautionary dose were infected by Covid-19 during the third wave. 

"Of the 5,971 people, 2,383 took the booster dose and 30 per cent of them reported Covid during the third wave," the study said.

Meawnhile, a total of 3,361 people reported getting infected at least once. Of these, 2,311 (70 per cent) had Covid during the third wave, it said.

Of the 716 people who got infected even after taking a booster dose, three per cent were asymptomatic, 58.5 per cent had a mild infection, 37 per cent had moderate, and 0.3 per cent had severe disease.

Futhermore, the study pointed out a higher chance of Covid-19 infection during the third wave for those getting booster jab after a long gap since the second dose. "Giving a third dose before a six-month gap did not make a difference in the infection rate," it stated.

Notably, during the third wave, which was largely fueled by Omicron variant, more women (41 per cent) than men (36.8 per cent) got infected.

The study also showed that the third wave affected those aged below 40 the most - around 45 per cent of them contracted the disease.

It said 39.6 per cent in the 40-59 age cohort and 31.8 per cent in the 60-79 age group reported Covid during the third wave. Only 21.2 per cent of the people aged above 80 were infected.

A total of 5,971 vaccinated people participated in the survey, of which 24 per cent were aged below 40 and 50 per cent belonged to the 40-59 age group. Women accounted for 45 per cent of the people surveyed, while 53 per cent were healthcare workers.

(With inputs from PTI)