India's top virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang on Friday said many more waves of the Covid pandemic will come as it is a respiratory virus and such viruses have a great deal of seasonality. "I think it's very clear that we are going to have to learn to live with SARS-COv-2 virus and with the various variants that will continue to emerge from a virus that replicates at a very high level," Dr Kang said to news agency ANI, in an interview. The country is better prepared than it was two years ago and people should now learn to live of Covid-19, she said.
The observation comes as India is on the threshold of a fresh possible wave likely to be driven by Omicron. In the last few days, the daily number of Covid cases has gone up remarkably, while Omicron cases are also shooting up. From January 3, India will be administering vaccines to children between the age of 15 and 18 years. From January 10, frontline workers and senior citizens with comorbidities will be given precaution doses.
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"I believe we should be sending children to school, as generally COVID-19 infections are not much severe in children. Data available to inform a decision as to which vaccine should be used as a booster dose in India is very little," Dr Kang added.
"The important thing to remember is that we are not today in the same situation that we were in two years ago. We have a lot of tools available to us, a better understanding of how to use testing, what kinds of treatments work, and how to use and how to make vaccines that are effective," Dr Kang said.
{{/usCountry}}"The important thing to remember is that we are not today in the same situation that we were in two years ago. We have a lot of tools available to us, a better understanding of how to use testing, what kinds of treatments work, and how to use and how to make vaccines that are effective," Dr Kang said.
{{/usCountry}}The impact of Omicron seems to be somewhat less severe than other variants, the virologist said. "I think the important thing to remember about third and other waves is that there will be a third or fourth or fifth. When you have viruses that are respiratory viruses, what we tend to see of the viruses is a great deal of seasonality. These are viruses that keep coming back time and again," she said.