Key Points :
- Dr. Sanjay Rai implied the possibility of normalcy by mid-2021 even without Covid-19 vaccine and said vaccine can be expected by mid-next year and not early next year
- Dr. Rai is also a principal investigator in the Bharat Biotech Covaxin clinical trial at AIIMS
- Dr. Rai also suggested a change in strategy for dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic
New Delhi : Dr. Sanjay Rai, Professor in the Community Medicine Department at AIIMS-Delhi has said there is a possibility of normalcy by the middle of next year even if a Covid-19 vaccine is not developed by then.
Speaking to News agency ANI, Dr. Sanjay said, “By mid-next year, there’s a possibility of normalcy even if vaccine comes or not. There is always the natural end of any pandemic so it (COVID-19) will end too. It can happen in three ways – if we find a vaccine, if we give effective treatment or natural infection covers it. Only these three ways can end the infection. Today we do not have a vaccine or any effective treatment. If a vaccine does not come it will naturally end. When people will develop natural immunity, the virus will naturally end and it depends on our strategy.”
Dr. Rai is also a principal investigator of the Bharat Biotech Covaxin clinical trial at AIIMS. “Phase 2 clinical trial for COVID19 vaccine is underway in India with a good sample size of more than 600 motivated volunteers. Any vaccine will come by mid-next year, anywhere in the world, if everything goes as planned.”, he informed ANI.
He further added that there is a decline in the number of cases in places where large numbers were reported before. He further explained that people living in previous containment zones tend to obtain immunity against the virus saying, “Let us take the example of Dharavi in Mumbai. This place was reporting a large number of COVID cases but the situation is almost under control there. Similarly in Delhi, newer areas are witnessing an increase in COVID cases unlike previous containment zones.”
Dr. Rai also suggested changing strategy by saying, “We should focus more on changing the mortality rate instead of testing as testing will only increase the number of infected people and still, we will not be able to trace even 10 percent of the total infected people. Ninety percent people will be left untraced so now we need to test only those who need it and should focus on reducing the death rate.”
