A third wave of the coronavirus is inevitable, the government’s top scientific adviser said on Wednesday, warning that vaccines will need to be “updated” to deal with the new strains that have overwhelmed hospitals and left thousands dead.
K Vijay Raghavan, the Principal Scientific Advisor of the government, said, “A phase three is inevitable, given the higher levels of circulating virus but it is not clear on what time scale this phase three will occur.”
He further said that we should prepare for new waves.
The officials also said the long COVID wave of such “ferocity” that the country was experiencing currently “was not predicted”.
The health ministry also said that 12 states, including Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and UP, have more than 1 lakh active cases.
“There are some areas of concern. Bengaluru reported around 1.49 lakh cases in the last week. Chennai reported 38,000 cases. Some districts have recorded further & speedy COVID cases, these include Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Gurugram,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary, health ministry.
India is presently reeling under the ferocious second wave of the coronavirus. It has been reporting over 3 lakh cases for nearly two weeks now. The exponential rise in cases, much higher than the first wave, has put immense strain on the health care system, with hospitals battling a shortage of beds, oxygen and medical supplies.
Surjitt Sahani
