The COVID-19 pandemic will approach endemic stage in India in the next six months, Sujeet Singh, the director of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said on Tuesday, 15 September, reported NDTV.
"This pandemic has defied most of our predictions, but in the next six months, we will approach endemic status," Singh told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Singh said COVID-19 could be managed if the mortality and morbidity remained under control. He said Kerala, one of India's worst-affected states, is also doing better and emerging from the crisis.
Singh called vaccination the biggest protection against COVID-19.
"75 crore people have been vaccinated. If vaccine effectiveness is 70 per cent, then around 50 crore people in India have got immunity. A single dose gives 30-31% immunity. So the 30 crore people, who have received a single dose, are also immunised," he said, adding that COVID-appropriate behaviour needs to be followed even after vaccination.
Singh said that breakthrough infections, which means fully vaccinated people getting affected, would happen in 20-30 percent of the cases because of the new variants. He said that according to scientists, immunity level starts dropping with 70 to 100 days of vaccination.
He opined that the infections would reduce through more exposure to the virus and vaccination.
According to Singh, there were no new variants in India, adding that the C1.2 and Mu strains, which have been raising concern globally, have not been found in India.
Singh said that a new variant couldn't cause the third wave, which could be a result of a mix of behaviour and antibodies. He added that the upcoming festival seasons remains a cause of worry.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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