Importance of data during pandemic: Reflections on flying blind into the storm

News: Omicron cases are increasing in various countries like the UK, Denmark, etc. Concerns have been raised in India if it is prepared, for the third wave after the deadly 2nd one.

What is the present status of vaccination in India?

More than 50% of the adult population are vaccinated with both doses. Approximately 85% have received one or two doses. Discussions are going on for the booster shots for frontline healthcare workers and for vaccines of the 12-18-year population.

How the pandemic-related data can help to manage the spread of infection?

Let’s say there is test data spread across months, it can be used to infer about reinfection. It can also give the status of vaccine breakthrough.

South Africa presented a good response in wake of the Covid pandemic. A high-quality surveillance system and commitment towards transparency allowed South Africa to detect and rapidly share data with the world.

From the experience, it is clear that the presence of data can help in faster decision-making towards vaccination policies.

How the void in data can affect the system?

Indian Council of Medical Research holds data on every COVID-19 test conducted in India. But, it is worrying that these data are not correlated to data in the Cowin platform. Even, Data on hospitalizations, etc. are apparently available at the State level but seem inaccessible. This void shows the poor functioning of the government in handling the data.

Only the data which is accessible now is data collected by voluntary organizations like Covid19India.org. Here data were collected from multiple sources like individual reports by States, informal sources, such as journalist groups or citizen science reports, etc.

What should be done?

There is a need to understand that data availability is a must for ensuring the public good. The more widely data are shared, the greater the likelihood of integration of the rapidly shifting scientific research with clinical practice.

Source: This post is based on the article “Reflections on flying blind into the storm” published in The Hindu on 17th December 2021.