While some have found parallels to the end of the Spanish flu a century ago, others have pointed to the weakness of the Omicron variant to suggest that future mutations are likely to be even weaker. India has reported more than 52 lakh cases of Covid-19 this month. Though the growth curve of the disease is showing signs of flattening, the peak might still be some distance away. However, the most remarkable thing about the third wave in India so far has been the fact that it has been considerably less painful, both in human and economic terms, than the first or the second.
The nature of the Omicron wave has led many to proclaim that this might be the beginning of the end of the pandemic. Differing arguments have been put forward to support this line of thought. While some have found parallels to the end of the Spanish flu a century ago, others have pointed to the weakness of the Omicron variant to suggest that future mutations are likely to be even weaker.
However, this is hardly the dominant view in the scientific community. Moreover, this pandemic has thrown up multiple surprises, and defied most predictions.
Are we therefore in an endless loop, or is there any hope in sight? Is Omicron the last major variant, or could there be more? Is it possible to predict how the virus will mutate in the future? Can we do anything to prevent future waves? Most importantly, is it really the endgame? These, and many such, questions are uppermost on the minds of everyone as India negotiates its third wave of Covid-19.
There are few people in the country who understand these questions better than Dr Anurag Agrawal, director of Delhi-based Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, a CSIR research laboratory, who will be the guest at the online Explained session of The Indian Express on Thursday evening. As head of an institution that is currently involved in generating the scientific information required to prepare response measures for the pandemic, Dr Agrawal is one of the key voices in the government’s decision-making apparatus. He also engages directly with the people through informative and educative posts on social media on the pandemic.
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