Third wave of coronavirus won't be as severe as second wave: ICMR official

More vaccination and Covid appropriate behaviour could play an important role in mitigating these waves, said the expert

Medical experts have warned that the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic could hit India around October this year. However, there are contrasting opinions on whether the third wave would be more severe than the previous waves of the infection. 

On Saturday, Samiran Panda, head of epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said the third wave of Covid won’t be as severe as the second wave. “More vaccination and Covid appropriate behaviour could play an important role in mitigating these waves. Study on vaccine effect on Delta plus variant of Covid is underway,” Panda was quoted as saying by ANI. 

Shahid Jameel, an Indian virologist and former member of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia or INSACOG has previously cautioned about the new Delta+ variant, a mutation of the Delta variant, which he said could render Covid-19 vaccines ineffective. Jameel said the Delta+ variant may dodge immunity, both from vaccines and previous infections. 

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has also alerted eight states where the new variant has been detected in samples taken from Covid positive patients. The Ministry has classified the Delta+ variant as a ‘Variant of Concern’ and asked these states to take immediate containment measures in clusters where the variant has been detected. 

AIIMS director Randeep Guleria has warned that because of constant mutations, the third wave of the pandemic could hit India by October this year.