Covid has transitioned into endemic phase in India: Dr T Jacob John

The probability of a third Covid-19 wave appears remote under current situation with Delta variant and its derivatives as the main COVID variants in circulation

Covid has transitioned into endemic phase in India: Dr T Jacob John
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NH Web Desk

The probability of a third Covid-19 wave appears remote under current situation with Delta variant and its derivatives as the main COVID variants in circulation and also weekly caseload is dipping gradually, as per experts.

According to a report in Times of India, Dr T Jacob John, retired professor and head of the departments of clinical virology and microbiology, Christian Medical College (Vellore) said, “We need to forget about the third wave for the moment. If it does come up, it would be mid or the last quarter of next year. The Covid epidemic in India has transitioned into the endemic phase.

“Nobody can predict the timing of third wave. If a new variant of concern emerges, it can’t be ruled out,” Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of Maharashtra government’s Covid task force, said

T Jacob John stated the seven-day moving average of Covid cases has been below 50,000 for 16 weeks. It has been below 20,000 since October 9.

John, former director of ICMR’s Centre of Advanced Research in Virology, said during online talk, ‘Is the pandemic over?’ on Tuesday.

He referred to calculations based on the ‘reproduction number of virus’ that showed 450 million Indians were possibly infected during the first wave and another 830 million during the second wave.


India’s vaccination coverage hasn’t been good compared to the first world countries. “We can say we’ve reached the endemic stage not due to vaccination but due to natural infection,” said John.

Reaching the endemic stage is not the end of Covid. “We are in the endemic stage for the long haul,” he said.

“There are areas which have been seeing 300-500 cases daily for months and have vaccination coverage. It is heading towards endemicity,” Joshi said.

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