CHENNAI: Vaccination on war footing may give immense benefits in bringing down Covid-19 deaths, but the state now has clear evidence to show that long-term health policies should focus on prevention, management and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that push infectees into ICUs and complications.
An audit of people who died due to Covid 19 showed that nearly seven out of 10 people had not taken the vaccine.
Among vaccinated people of all age groups, comorbidities, especially uncontrolled diabetes and hypertension, posed a great threat, said director of public health Dr T S Selva Vinayagam, whose department audited medical reports of 1,411 people who died of Covid-19 between October 1 and January 16. Case sheets of 44 (3%) people were set aside as their vaccine status was unknown. Of the 1,367 deceased, 976 (70%) were unvaccinated, among which 811 were above 50 years with comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, renal or heart diseases and cancer.
Though the state has vaccinated nearly 90% of its population above the age of 18 with one dose and 67% with two, a large number of the vulnerable population remain without vaccine protection. Of the 10.4 crore people above 60 years, nearly 37 lakh haven’t taken even one dose of the vaccine.
“It is important to take both the doses of the vaccine. The elderly with comorbid conditions must take the precautionary dose as well,” Selva Vinayagam said. Among the 172 people who died after taking one dose, 135 were above 50 years with comorbid conditions.
This is not the first time the state has witnessed evidence of vaccine benefits. Of the 88,719 people who tested positive in Tamil Nadu between August and September 2021, at least 63% did not take any vaccine, 24% were partially vaccinated and 13% were fully vaccinated. As for ICU admissions and deaths, nearly 87% of deaths and 76% of ICU admissions were among those who were unvaccinated against Covid-19.
The present analysis showed that the number of deceased who had taken both doses of the vaccine dropped to 234. “Even among this group, nearly 217 people above 50 years had comorbid conditions,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. In double vaccinated people below 50 years, nine with comorbid conditions died compared with three without comorbid conditions. “While vaccines provide immediate benefits, there is a need for keeping NCDs under control in the long term,” he said. The state hopes to cover a large number of people with NCDs under the Makkalai thedi maruthuvam scheme.
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