What the Omicron variant means for India

News: Corona’s situation is coming to normalize following the deadly second wave in India. But the coming of the new Omicron variant poses a threat to progress made in the Covid fight.

What is the present situation amidst the corona pandemic in India?

The number of corona cases is declining in India even the rise has been seen across much of Europe. According to studies, this is because of two factors:

1. A large number of people already exposed to the virus. Thus providing some level of protection to subsequent infections, 2. The vaccination drive in India. Approximately 44% of Indian adults have been fully vaccinated and 82% have received at least one dose.

What is the Omicron variant? Why is the Omicron variant worrying?

It is still unclear,  whether the Omicron variant might lead to more severe forms of COVID-19, both in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. So, research is needed for the same.

Although the RT-PCR test can still detect the Omicron variant, India should still prepare for handling this variant. If these mutations do lead to greater immune escape, vaccines and treatments like monoclonal, antibodies might need to be reformulated.

What should be done to control the situation?

As long as the virus circulates, the possibility remains that new variants could emerge. So, the best option available is to reduce the case numbers and boost the vaccination process. A single dose of vaccine can reduce dramatically the risk of hospitalization or a worse outcome; two doses do even better.

It has been found that more than 60 countries have vaccinated less than 25% of their population, including South Africa. So, there is a need to solve the inequity problem in the vaccination process.

Source: This post is based on the article” What the Omicron variant means for India” published in The Hindu on 29th November 2021.