AIIMS Chief Says 240 News Strains of Coronavirus in India
240 new strains of the virus have surfaced in Maharashtra, which are behind the fresh surge of infections the state has been witnessing since last week.
Dr Shahshank Joshi, member of Maharashtra's Covid Task Force in an interview to NDTV said that 240 new strains of the coronavirus have surfaced across India. This is the reason why in the last one week, there has been a rise in infections in Maharashtra. Besides Maharashtra, four more states -- Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Punjab -- have also been witnessing a spike in infections. AIIMS Chief Dr Randeep Guleria on Saturday 20 Feb, told NDTV that the government's vaccination plan depends on creating ‘Herd Immunity’.
What is Herd Immunity?
The government will not vaccinate everyone. They will vaccinate important people such as doctors, nurses, police officers, senior citizens and those with multiple health issues. When such people are vaccinated, their immunity will become strong and they won’t get infected. Since these vaccinated people won’t get infected, they will not be able to pass it on to others who are not vaccinated. This is how a large group of people can be protected. This is called ‘Herd Immunity’.
Dr Guleria said that in India Herd Immunity is not possible. Because even though a person has been vaccinated, they can still get infected by the new strains of the virus. But he said that it is very important that people take the vaccine. He said that if people who are vaccinated get infected, then the sickness will not be very dangerous, it will be mild. Dr Guleria said this is why India has to put strict rules to control the situation. So far, more than 1.07 crore vaccine doses have been administered.
