Caution needed even after vaccination, says Dr. Ranga Reddy Burri

Hyderabad: Even as hopes run high that the vaccines to prevent Covid-19 will help the country overcome the pandemic and put an end to the spread of the disease, caution should continue to be the watchword even among those who are getting the vaccines, according to Dr Ranga Reddy Burri, president of Infection Control Academy of India.

One of the questions that is being asked, with the vaccination drive on across the country, is whether those receiving the vaccines can do whatever they want from now on. “The answer,” according to Dr Ranga Reddy, is a resounding “no.”

“No one is going to turn into a superman or a superwoman post vaccination. Getting the vaccine does not mean that one can go around and enjoy a fairytale lifestyle,” he told Deccan Chronicle during an interview.

What was a normal lifestyle, of going out, meeting people, enjoying oneself or just going to work and being with colleagues all day long, have now acquired the aura of a fairytale lifestyle because of the ease with which Covid-19 spreads from person to person.

It is important that everyone who gets the vaccine continues to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. Dr Ranga Reddy cautioned against euphoria among the vaccine recipients saying the four weeks between the first and the booster doses and then the two weeks more needed for the body to produce the protection from the virus means it takes time for the protection to kick in.

“Wear a mask, wash hands regularly, maintain physical distance from others and avoid crowded places. There is simply not enough data for determining whether a person, after receiving both doses of the vaccine, can contract the virus, or spread it as a silent asymptomatic person,” he explained.

Despite the current challenges of understanding how the vaccines will behave, Dr Ranga Reddy said that as the days go by, more data that will come that might answer such questions.

He said: “I think it is fantastic how scientific and medical communities responded to the pandemic by getting the vaccines out quickly. Vaccines in general, are a boon to humanity, they are good for public health. People should understand how human history evolved and changed for the better because of vaccines.”

Everyone, Dr Ranga Reddy said, should take the vaccine when their turn comes. Leave the debates on which vaccine is best, what is the level of protection etc., to the scientists and the medical professionals. The vaccine is our best bet to begin the end of the the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.