Impractical to vaccinate all in a short span, says NIMHANS virologist

Although vaccination is the most attractive strategy, it is impractical to administer it to every citizen in India in a short time, said V. Ravi, senior professor and head of the Department of Neurovirology at NIMHANS.

“We need to prioritise and we hope there will be herd immunity by the time the priority group is catered to,” said Dr. Ravi, whom the State depended on for establishing testing labs after the pandemic hit Karnataka in March, in an interaction with The Hindu. The doctor, often referred to as “Virus Ravi”, is set to retire this month.

Dr. Ravi, who launched the State’s first virology lab in 1985, has been tasked with the responsibility by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) of mentoring all the private and government laboratories across Karnataka to establish COVID-19 RT-PCR testing facility. He was key in developing 164 (58 govt. and 106 private) ICMR-approved laboratories in less than six months. The Hindu