The study also stated that Delta variant was 30-70% more transmissible than previous SARS-CoV-2 lineages & the 2020 Covid outbreak in Delhi was unrelated to any variant of concern.
New variants like Delta, which are more transmissible and have been shown to evade protections in some cases, are moving the bar for herd immunity near impossibly high levels.
Experts say the biggest mistake was allowing the virus to travel freely into the rural areas, adding that eradication of the virus now is too far-fetched an idea.
While Covid-19 has been a catastrophe, it’s also an unprecedented opportunity, given the visible public health ravages, to change minds and prove the value of vaccines.
AIIMS director Randeep Guleria said one should not think of herd immunity in 'practical terms' in India, especially in the times of 'variant strains' of Covid-19 and varying immunity.
Covid-19 in Manaus peaked in April-May 2020 and then developed a supposed 76% herd immunity by October, but the Brazilian city is now besieged by a second wave.
Evidence is compelling that a robust and rapid vaccination campaign could render Covid less of a threat than seasonal flu through building herd immunity.
How Trump responds to the growing Russia-China alliance and their anti-American diatribes will require some strategising among the Indian foreign policy and national security mandarins.
Bangladesh is already reeling from low coal-fired power production & inability to import enough coal, gas. Now, Adani has cut supplies over unpaid dues. However, this could hurt Adani too.
Video call between two Army heads is their first interaction after political upheaval in Bangladesh forced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to flee to India in August.
While we talk much about our military, we don’t put our national wallet where our mouth is. Nobody is saying we should double our defence spending, but current declining trend must be reversed.
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