oppn parties How To Deal With Mutations Of The Virus?

News Snippets

  • Batteries, chains and screws were among 65 objects found in the stomach of a 14-year-old Hathras boy who died after these objects were removed in a complex surgery at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital
  • India confirms that 'verification patrolling' is on at Demchok and Depsang in Ladakh after disengagement of troops
  • LeT commander and 2 other terrorists killed in Srinagar in a gunbattle with security forces. 4 security personnel injured too.
  • Man arrested in Nagpur for sending hoax emails to the PMO in order to get his book published
  • Adani Power sets a deadline of November 7 for Bangladesh to clear its dues, failing which the company will stop supplying power to the nation
  • Shubman Gill (90) and Rishabh Pant (60) ensure India get a lead in the final Test after which Ashwin and Jadeja reduce the visitors to 171 for 9 in the second innings
  • Final Test versus New Zealand: Match evenly poised as NZ are 143 ahead with 1 wicket in hand
  • PM Modi said that a historic Diwali will be celebrated in Ayodhya after 500 years with the rebuilding of the Ram Mandir there
  • Priyanka Gandhi, campaigning as the candidate in Wayanad, alleged that the BJP had neglected the constituency
  • UP Police arrested 7 people for selling firearms on WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook
  • The Election Commission once again slammed the Congress for 'frivolous doubts' on the Haryana election process
  • Government has advised pharma companies to cut prices of cancer drugs as the customes duty has been slashed
  • Bengal tweaks PMAY scheme to make it 'better' than the Central offer
  • PM Modi slams Delhi and Bengal for not rolling out Ayushman Bharat in their states. TMC rebuts the charges and says the Bengal Swasthya Sathi scheme is better than the Central scheme
  • iPhone exports from India surged 33% in the period April to September this year
India warns Canada on making 'absurd and baseless' claims against Home Minister Amit Shah
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How To Deal With Mutations Of The Virus?

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-12-21 03:06:32

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

If the latest developments can be taken as evidence, the coronavirus scare is not likely to go away early in the New Year, as is widely expected. Experts believe that the rollout of the vaccine will mean that more than 50 percent of the world's population will be inoculated by the middle of next year, creating a critical mass of people with Covid anti-bodies that would prevent its spread.

But how will we deal with mutations of the virus? Already, Great Britain has reported that a mutant strain of Covid-19 has surfaced in the country and is spreading rapidly ("out of control" is the term used by the UK health ministry). The UK government has imposed a strict lockdown in the country from Sunday. Nations across the European Union and all over the world have started imposing travel restrictions to and from UK.

The health ministry in India has called a meeting of its joint monitoring group to discuss the developments. Although the UK health ministry has said that apart from the rapid spread, there is no evidence yet that the new strain is more dangerous, or kills more people or if the vaccines are ineffective against it. UK is expected to continue its vaccination programme as decided.

India, on the other hand, will have to first decide whether flights to and from the UK must be stopped and whether UK citizens or those who have visited the UK in the last 15 days should be allowed entry into India. This is of utmost importance to prevent the new strain of Covid 19 from entering the country. Then, it should wait and watch whether the vaccines being used in the UK are effective against this new strain before choosing the vaccine for India.

Although experts had earlier said that the vaccines will cover almost all mutations, that is hypothetical as one will never know the efficacy unless new strains crop up and the vaccines are tried on them. Hence, if the virus keeps mutating, it makes it very difficult to predict what will happen next. That is why experts have warned that people in India must not lower their guard about health protocols just because the numbers of people getting infected are falling. The worst is not over yet.