Dr VK Paul said that in the endemic situation like flu, India is adjusting every year (File)
New Delhi:
Amid concerns over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, COVID Task Force chief Dr VK Paul on Tuesday said India should have vaccine platforms that are “quickly adaptable” with the changing nature of variants.
Dr Paul said he expects the coronavirus to be possibly endemic in India where there is a low or moderate level of transmission.
“There is a possible scenario that in emerging circumstances our vaccines may be ineffective. In the wake of the last three weeks of living with Omicron, we have seen how such suspicions have come to the fore. Some of them may be real. We are right now.” Don’t even have the final picture,” he said.
The new and potentially more infectious variant, named B.1.1.1.529, was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa on 24 November.
“And so, it’s essential for us to be sure of having vaccine platforms that are quickly adaptable. It’s likely that we need to tweak what we need to stay in the game, so to say, variants.” remains valid with the changing nature of the economy,” Dr Paul, who is also a member of NITI Aayog, said.
He said that in the endemic situation like flu, India is adjusting every year.
“How quickly can we make a vaccine that’s using the same platform, but targeted for the now-a-days version? … as they require. It may not happen every three months, but it might Could happen every year,” he observed.
According to Dr VK Paul, drug development will not be out of fashion for the next viral pandemic/pandemic that the world may face.
“And of course, the anti-microbial resistance challenge for drug solutions is also crying out,” he said.
Noting how the roadmap and risk-taking attitude of India’s classical pharmaceutical industry needs to be examined, he said, “We are still searching for an effective drug to fight viral diseases including COVID-19. are crying.”
Noting that COVID-19 has taught that the virus is not to be taken lightly, he said the unpredictability in emerging health scenarios should be respected and addressed.
“The pandemic is not over, we will continue to deal with the uncertainty, even though we hope that we are moving towards possibly endemic, hopefully a mild disease that we can deal with,” he said.
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