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.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved verdict on a batch of petitions seeking review of its September 28, 2018, judgment that allowed women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that the BJP got the names of 30 lakh voters deleted from the voters' list in the national capital sensing a defeat in the general elections.
French Ambassador to India, Alexandre Ziegler, said the country was happy to confer the award on Father Laborde who had set up Howrah South Point, an organisation working for the development of specially-abled children, the destitute and the most deprived sections of the society.
