New Delhi: It is unfair to provide a date for every covid wave because Coronavirus behavior cannot be predicted and a disciplined and effective pandemic response can help the country qualify from a significant outbreak, said the head of the Covid V K Paul task unit said on Monday.
In the midst of increasing concerns over the Delta Plus variant of the virus, Paul, who is also a member of Niti Aayog, stressed that there was no scientific data so far to determine that the new variant is very contagious or reducing the efficacy of the vaccine.
In an interview with PTI, Paul said that other waves of all sizes would depend on several factors, including the overall discipline in the right behavior, testing and vaccination strategy, and the level of vaccination.
“And in addition, viral behavior that cannot be predicted can also change the dynamics of the pandemic.
In such a scenario, their complex factors will determine the chain of transmission and plague.” There is no wave or no wave, in our own hands.
To me, it is unfair to put any dates for any wave, “he said.
Fresh new cases every day have come down from four lakhs during the second covid wave peak to around 50,000 in the last few days and unlock the process or removal of restrictions Ongoing in many parts of the country.
“If we are determined and the discipline and the effective and marshal pandemic response, we must be in a position to stay away from a significant outbreak,” said Paul.
At present, three covid vaccines.
– Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Russia’s Sputnik V – are being used for inoculation in India.
When asked about the Delta Plus variant, Paul said scientific knowledge about it was still in the early stages.
“What is called Delta Plus variant shows additional mutations in the variant Delta and because this is a new variant, scientific knowledge is still in the early stages.
“Whether additional mutations in the Delta variant are associated with increased transmission or excess disease severity, or any bad effects on the current vaccine efficacy is not set and we must wait for this information to appear.” And we have to wait for these aspects to be systematically studied, “he said, Paul said that based on scientific evaluation by ICMR, the two effective vaccines against the Coronavirus, including Delta variants, which are currently the dominant variants in this country.
ICMR is an Indian medical research board .
When asked whether India was close by providing compensation to foreign vaccine makers such as Pfizer and Modera, Paul said this problem had several dimensions and was not wise to give row time for such problems.
“Discussion to open the way for vaccines internationally developed to India, is underway.
This problem has several dimensions and we strive to find an agreed path at the beginning.
“We strive to speed up progress in every possible way,” he said.
However, he did not study the problem of compensation in connection with approving the vaccine made by foreign companies.
Compensation is one of the problems that still have to be resolved between the authorities and companies – Pfizer and Moderna – in connection with approving each vaccine for use in India.
About developments in the Covaxin Bharat Biotech application to get an emergency use list (EUL) from the World Health Organization (WHO), Paul said the process went very well.
“Additional documents delivered by the company last week.
We want to see the accelerated review of the data and hope that the decision will come soon,” he said.
On whether the government was looking at reducing the gap between two covishied doses, Niti Aayog members showed that the country made a decision to increase the inter-dose interval for covishield to three months after a careful evaluation of scientific data.
“This decision was taken by the National Technical Advisory Group on immunization (NTagi), whose members included our top scientists.
Is for this group to see additional data, additional scientific information and to make decisions based on scientific principles,” he said.
Last month, the government extended the gap between two covishield doses from 6-8 weeks to 12-8 16 weeks.
“Until now, their decision is to continue with the current dose schedule,” said Paul.