India is gearing up to tackle a possible third wave of the coronavirus pandemic as the Omicron variant of the virus, which is said to be much more infectious than the other strains of COVID-19, has surfaced.
Eminent virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang said “top down” approach towards Covid vaccination coverage without engagement of residents could prompt propensity to evade immunization and produce fake certificates.
Clinical trial data showed that four weeks after vaccination, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was 66.3% effective at preventing COVID-19 infection. The initial studies also showed that it was 85% effective at preventing severe disease and 100% effective at protecting against COVID-related hospitalization.
“The extent of population that is unexposed to the virus during the last two waves and vaccination coverage will determine the next wave,” former head of departments of clinical virology and microbiology at Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, told ET.
The existing Covid-19 vaccines are effective for a minimum one year as per available evidence and if more troubling variants don’t emerge, the protection may last for a couple of years, virologist Dr V Ravi, who is a member of Karnataka’s Covid task force committee, said.
Doctors have appealed to the government to allow medical professionals to take the lead instead of having district collectors manage the situation.
"There are signs of a slowdown, which makes us believe that we are close, we could peak in the next few days." But virologist Fabrizio Pregliasco warned that would not translate into a go-ahead to ease lockdown measures.
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