Reports: Fourth wave of Covid-19 may not have earlier impact
Health experts believe that due to the fast-paced mass vaccination programme in the country and increasing awareness, it would be easier to deal with the upcoming wave of the Covid-19.
While the Covid-19 situation looks fully under control in view of fast-declining new cases of coronavirus infection, a recent study has warned that the fourth wave may set in around June 22 in the country.
The study has been conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K) researchers, who predicted that India is likely to witness the fourth covid-19 wave in mid to late June, and the surge is to continue for about 4 months.
However, top health experts have suggested that the impact of the possible fourth Covid-19 wave may not be as severe as the previous ones. They said that the severity of the fourth Covid wave will depend on the emergence of new variants, vaccination status, and administration of booster doses.
Health experts believe that due to the fast-paced mass vaccination programme in the country and increasing awareness, it would be easier to deal with the upcoming wave of the Covid-19.
As of Tuesday, more than 177.67 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the country, according to the Union Health Ministry. The Ministry also said that more than 2 crore precaution doses have been given to healthcare and frontline workers and comorbid people aged 60 and above.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Inoculation of frontline workers started on February 2. The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged more than 45 years from April 1. The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years. India began administering precaution dose of COVID-19 vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10.
