NEW DELHI: Health ministry
joint
secretary
Lav Agarwal
has said India's health care infrastructure could escape excess strain in the third wave if containment strategies and Covid appropriate behaviour are followed effectively.
Speaking at a media workshop organised by
UNICEF
in partnership with the
Ministry of Health
,
Agarwal
said 2.2 per cent of India's population has been affected by the disease so far.
"This should also make us wary of protecting the still vulnerable or susceptible 97 per cent population. We cannot let our guards down, hence, continued focus on containment is critical," he said.
Many experts have predicted India witnessing a third wave of the coronavirus in the coming months.
An
IIT Kanpur
study done by Prof. Rajesh Ranjan and Mahendra Verma, along with their team, on Monday said third wave peak of Covid-19 could be around September - October this year.
"If we keep following containment and Covid appropriate behavior, then the third wave, even if it comes, will not have the number of cases that will put the health system under strain," he said.
The official also said it is important to keep reminding communities about Covid appropriate behaviour and not just focus on dispelling myths on vaccination.
Responding to a question on the effectiveness of cocktail vaccine or mixing different vaccine doses, senior ministry official Veena Dhawan said as per the evidence available, the vaccines are not "interchangeable".
(With inputs from PTI)
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