Second wave not yet over, Delta plus may not be dangerous: NTAGI chief
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Jul, 2021 10:51 AM
New Delhi, July 15 (IANS) India is still witnessing the second wave which is not yet over as northeastern states and some parts of south India are still battling it, a member of the government's Covid expert panel said on Thursday.
Talking to IANS, Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Chairman N.K. Arora said: "Second wave is not yet over..."
He also contended that the Delta Plus variant is "not going to be that disturbing or harmful" while the Delta variant infection is still in some parts of the country.
Some experts suggest that there may be possible third wave at the end of August but it may not be as devastating as the second wave was during April to June.
Experts also stress that adherence to Covid protocols is mandatory to curb the infection and vaccination is an important tool to fight the pandemic.
The Indian Council of Medical Research's Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division head Samiran Panda has said that the vaccines available now largely are effective against the new variants, but the efficacy may differ for different strains.
Vaccines are not infection-preventing, but disease-modifying, he added.
Food and beverages giant PepsiCo India on Thursday said it will withdraw its lawsuit against four Gujarat potato farmers accused of infringing its patent.
Javed Akhtar's comment came in the wake of the Shiv Sena mouthpiece on Wednesday urging the Narendra Modi government to emulate Sri Lanka in banning the burqa on grounds of national security.
With the BJP highlighting the issue of nationalism in the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress on Thursday said multiple surgical strikes were carried out during the tenure of Congress-led UPA government.
