Can India stay immune to Covid?

India

oi-Deepika S

New
Delhi
Dec
21:
Almost
three
years
into
the
coronavirus
pandemic,
China
is
witnessing
a
massive
upsurge
in
the
Covid
cases.
While
the
health
experts
across
the
globe
have
sounded
alarm
bells,
few
believe
that
Covid
situation
in
China
is
along
‘expected
lines’,
due
to
its
recent
removal
of
the
Zero-COVID
policy.

According
to
healthdata.org
predicts
3,00,000
people
could
die
from
COVID-19
infections
by
April
2023
and
1.6
million
people
could
die
by
the
end
of
the
year.

So,
it
is
certain
that
the
situation
in
big
cities
in
China,
including
Beijing
is
spiraling
out
of
control.

Visuals
of
hospitals
in
Beijing,
being
overwhelmed
by
patients
and
of
morgues
filled
with
bodies
of
those
who
succumbed
to
the
disease
lend
a
horrific
memory
of
second
coronavirus
wave
in
India
driven
by
the
emergence
of
the
highly
deadly
variant
of
Covid-19
called
Delta.
But
does
India
need
to
worry
about
the
increase
in
infections
in
China
now?

Amid
surge
in
China,
experts
believe
that
there
should
be
a
close
watch
on
whether
a
new
variant
emerges.
Genome
sequencing
is
going
to
be
crucial
in
recognising
new
emerging
variants,
and
how
they
are
behaving.

Experts
say
that
chances
of
rise
in
Covid-19
cases
in
India
is
unlikely.
“The
chances
of
cases
rising
are
low
as
India
has
good
herd
immunity.
However,
the
threat
will
remain
to
the
broad
population
as
the
virus
is
likely
to
mutate
as
it
spreads
in
China.
As
the
virus
spreads
to
more
people
in
China,
it
is
likely
to
mutate
further.
And
therefore,
we
must
keep
a
vigil
with
respect
to
rising
cases,
hospitalisation
and
mutations
of
the
virus,”
a
daily
quoted
Dr
Raman
Gangakhedkar,
who
retired
as
head
of
epidemiology
at
the
Indian
Council
of
Medical
Research
(ICMR),
as
saying.

However,
he
points
out
that
as
the
virus
mutates
it
may
have
the
potential
to
infect
those
who
have
been
previously
infected
with
the
Omicron
strain
of
COVID-19.
“And
therefore
keeping
a
vigil
is
important.
Although
the
risk
is
not
very
high,
we
should
keep
a
vigil
on
the
numbers,”
he
added.

Is
India
immune
to
Covid?

India
having
battled
the
deadly
second
covid
wave
driven
by
the
Delta
variant,
now
seems
to
be
in
a
far
more
comfortable
position.

For
India,
the
good
news
is
that
the
BF.7
covid
variant,
which
is
triggering
covid
surge
in
China
is
not
new.

India,
for
instance,
has
been
detecting
these
strains
and
data
from
India’s
SARS
CoV
2
genomic
surveillance
programme,
or
INSACOG,
shows
that
BF.7,
too,
has
been
present
here
for
months.

Experts
say
that
the
current
infection
and
death
rates
in
China
may
be
because
the
country
has
a
lower
level
of
population
immunity
than
that
in
other
countries.

Given
extensive
Covid
vaccination
drive
in
India,
there
is
no
room
for
pub
panic
on
surge
of
covid
cases
but
we
have
to
maintain
vigil.

It
is
for
this
reason
India
need
not
be
too
worried
about
the
covid
explosion
in
China.