3rd Covid wave unlikely to mirror 2nd wave

A team of scientists from the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Imperial College London, UK conducted a study and said that a potential third wave of Covid infections seems unlikely to be as severe as the second wave.

As per the study, rapid scale-up of vaccination efforts could play an important role in mitigating the present and future waves of the disease.

A major factor driving the in the country second wave is the emergence of more-infectious variants of SARS-CoV-2, principally B.1.1.7 (Alpha variant) and B.1.617.2 (Delta variant), of which the latter has played a dominant role in recent months.

The study further stated that the third waves have emerged in other countries – like the UK and the USA – and are driven by a range of factors.

it added that the results suggest that a third wave, if it should occur, is unlikely to be as severe as the second wave, given the extent of spread that has already taken place in India.

“Consequently, for a virus to cause a major third wave in the face of this pre-existing immunity, extreme scenarios for the abrogation of that immunity are required, or for that matter, for the transmission fitness of any novel virus,” says the article in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.