‘Possible to avert third wave, even end pandemic’

Top scientist highlights importance of masks, large scale testing, rapid vaccination and preventig gatherings in closed spaces

We can not only avert a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also put an end to it by the end of the year if we adhere to face masks, ensure there is no clustering of people in closed spaces, increase the pace of vaccination besides taking up large scale testing, tracing and isolation of positive cases, said former director of CSIR-Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) and now adviser Rakesh Mishra on Wednesday. “No variant can spread without people’s cooperation. It cannot break through a properly worn mask covering the nose and mouth. It is uncivil not to wear a mask in public as you may spread the virus to your own family and friends. No one predict the third wave but we can tilt this in our favour if we can do these things,” he asserted. Making a presentation on ‘COVID variants & the pandemic’ in a webinar organised by The National Academy of Sciences-India: Hyderabad chapter, he said there could be a need for a booster vaccine dose and that there was a greater likelihood of virus outbreaks in smaller towns and not on a nationwide scale in future.