The Omicron infection has spread to 28 States and UTs, as per the ministry.
A recent study by IIT Kanpur suggests that the peak of the third wave would be reached anytime between the first and second week of February this year. It has also been established unequivocally that the Omicron variant breaches through the defences of people who have already taken two doses of the vaccine.
Besides South Africa, the Omicron strain has surged Covid cases in many countries including France, Russia, the US, and Israel. In the UK, it is expected to replace Delta as the dominant variant and the UK Health Security Agency estimates that the number of daily infections could touch 200,000.
Most of the vaccines, in general, have demonstrated their effectiveness against new variants including Delta in preventing hospitalisations and deaths. However, their effectiveness seems to be waning rapidly over time (6 to 9 months after 2nd dose), necessitating booster doses to those at high risk and to all adults if sufficient vaccine supplies are available.
Three days after emergence of first case of Omicron variant in India, New Delhi reported country’s 5th case of the variant on Sunday.
Referring to the transformational changes brought in the governance over the past seven years, he said that these changes are both empowering and enabling the 1.3 billion people to deliver on their potential.
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