Meghna Jaswal
In the past year, COVID-19 has proved to be detrimental to the entire world especially to a country like India with a huge population where administering and ensuring the prevention protocol becomes a whole new challenge. With the year coming to an end, there have been some advances made in order to contain the virus, some of which has been successful to some extent. The hope of successful prevention if not elimination of the virus with the discovery of vaccines has led to some merry in the hearts of people, however, with the new strain which has recently started transmitting quite quickly, again the reservations regarding the new vaccines are arising and becoming stronger.
It is first imperative to understand what exactly the new strain is and how severe it is. Medical experts claim that there are a lot of rumours surrounding the new strain of Corona Virus and as claimed by the Prime Minister of UK, Boris Johnson, that the new strain is 70% more effective and infectious. Scientists claim that there is no such relevant research which may indicate towards the new strain being more severe. Claims have also been made in reference to past viruses stating how mutations are a common occurrence and no solid conclusions can be made as of now and it would take more time and research by observing the patients as the cases come up.
Viruses as stated before occur through mutations and the new strain called VUI-202012/01 is a result of genetic mutation in the spike protein which the SARS- CoV 2 uses in order to spread the infection to human cells. The distinguishing factor of this new strain is in its frequency and transmissibility. While cases have been increasingly seen of the new strain in UK, experts claim that it was first observed nearly a year ago in China. In case of the corona virus being an RNA virus, mutations being a common occurrence are expected.
What does it mean for India?
The Civil Aviation Ministry of India on the 23rd of December suspended all flights between the European countries and India. The flights suspension from UK would remain till January 7th as per the ministry’s directive. Till now 25 cases has been discovered of the new strain in India and the government has been strictly regulating all the passengers who travelled from UK in the previous week.
All the infected people are being kept under quarantine in isolated rooms under various health care facilities and their close contacts have also been kept under quarantine. The health ministry has also ensured that contact tracing has been initiated for family members, co passengers and other people. Thereby, a strict vigilance policy is being followed. Understanding the mistakes of the past as well as learning from the examples set by certain districts like Bhilwara in Rajasthan among others can ensure successful containing of the new strain.
The Government of India previously on the onset of the virus had enforced a strict lockdown which was probably the most stringent lockdown imposed among all the other nations of the world. Despite this fact, India wasn’t able to successfully contain the virus as it had hoped to achieve. The lockdown happened abruptly and even the state governments and administration was not truly ready for it. It led to 1.3 billion Indians being forced to stay indoors. India suffered a huge economic crisis due to this lockdown.
As per official data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, “the Indian economy contracted by 23.9% in the April-June quarter of this fiscal year.”
Economists termed it as the worst decline recorded since 1996. India’s GDP has also been the worst hit amongst other nations as the decline was steep and it also shouldn’t be forgotten that the informal sector is not completely captured in these GDP calculations which actually accounts for more than 50% of gross value added. Therefore, in terms of the economic status, India has already suffered a major blow back. In terms of the new strain of corona virus, the government has to again ensure that the illusion of the pandemic getting over is distorted and people need to keep taking the necessary precautions which include wearing a mask, sanitizing and social distancing. Closed spaces, crowded spaces and close contact must be avoided. The lockdowns imposed earlier pushed a lot of Indians into unemployment and put the economic growth of India at a dead end. Therefore, in order to avoid this not much can be done except the usual practice which needs to be followed in a more stringent manner with the new strain that has come up.
There are not necessarily any new precautions which can be added to the ones which already exist. However, the mistakes of the past in terms of keeping a vigilant check on travelers and personal responsibility as well are some of the factors that might contain the spread of the virus. There have been a few cases of people fleeing hospitals or not informing the authorities. That again needs to be kept under check. While the COVID numbers seem to be getting better it is also imperative to note that the pandemic is far from over as PM Modi advises people to stay cautious till the vaccination drive is not completed which will take place in the following year.
How does the new strain affect the vaccines?
Experts are pointing out that there is no cause to worry as of now since the vaccines elicit a broad range of responses and thereby the main question to address would be whether the virus will become sensitive to the vaccines in the longer run. Infact, experts in the European Union are also claiming that the vaccines will be effective against the new strain of the virus.
The Government of India has lined up 3 vaccine candidates and has started preparing for a huge vaccination drive. So in terms of the vaccination drive, India is well prepared especially considering that the vaccine manufacturers are claiming that with a few tweaks the vaccine would be suitable for the new strain as well while some claim that the vaccine already is suitable for it.
As of now, Dr VK Paul, Niti Aayog member and head of National Expert Group on Covid-19 vaccination has claimed that the government has already made preparations in terms of cold storage being made available for the vaccines. And other provisions are also being made to ensure the smooth delivery of vaccines. Till the time more research is not made on the effect of the new strain on the vaccine, a new analysis won’t be certain. However, Indian authorities are taking all possible measures at the moment to make sure that the new strain which is extremely transmissible does not spread and is successfully contained. Now it all boils down to individual responsibility and constraint.
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