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A woman reacts in discomfort after she arrived to receive free oxygen distributed as a service by a Gurdwara (Sikh holy place) for coronavirus patients and others who are in need of oxygen amid scarcity in the city.
Experts said that the uncontrolled outbreak of COVID-19 in India allows the more dangerous variants to mutate, transmit, and even evade the vaccines.
Experts Warned About the Effect of COVID-19 Outbreak in India
India is now heavily impacted by the infectious and deadly COVID-19 that continues to infect and claimed the lives of its people. Now, experts warned the uncontrolled virus outbreak in India poise a global threat.
In a recently published article in The New York Times, experts said that the COVID-19 outbreak in India would prolong the pandemic. They also added that this would also allow the more dangerous variants to spread, mutate, and even possibly evade the efficacy of the vaccines.
Due to the surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths in India, some countries have already implemented a travel ban to stop the entry of the virus. In a report published in CNN News, the United States will begin its travel restriction from India later this week.
COVID-19 Variant that Causes the Surge of COVID-19 Infections in India
A highly contagious variant known as B.1.1.7 was the leading cause of the surge of cases in Britain earlier this year. This new variant has already reached the United States and some countries in Europe.
India has recorded 401,993 new cases in just a single day over the weekend. This is so far the highest record in the world since the pandemic began. However, experts believed that the real numbers could be higher than what is known and recorded, according to a published article in the NZ Herald.
Virologists are baffled as to what is behind India's second wave. Some have suggested that a homegrown version known as B.1.617 is to blame, but researchers outside of India believe that the restricted evidence shows that B.1.1.7 is to blame.
How Important is Vaccination?
Vaccination is vital amid the second wave of COVID-19 in India. This is a big challenge for different countries to increase vaccination every day to achieve herd immunity. If this is not be reached, the same will happen to other countries because of the new variant and mutation.
In fact, 44 percent of adults in the United States have already received at least one dose of vaccine. However, health and infectious experts said that the country is still far from reaching herd immunity.
Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said, "We can ban all the flights we want but there is literally zero way we can keep these highly contagious variants out of our country. If we want to put this pandemic behind us, we can't let the virus run wild in other parts of the world."
However, the efficacy of the vaccines developed could also be affected. Dr. Celine Grounder, an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist, said, "For now the vaccines remain effective, but there is a trend toward less effectiveness."
This is why the vaccine makers are now poised to develop other booster shots to fight stronger variants.
Related Article: US Starts Sending COVID-19 Aid to India, Including Much-Needed Oxygen
