What next can we expect of the pandemic? | In Focus podcast

Dr. Lancelot Pinto speaks to us on the scientific need for booster doses in India and what happens to those patients who experience long Covid.

Just as the Omicron wave of the pandemic was ebbing in India and case numbers were dropping significantly, there were some concerns about an Omicron sub-variant BA.2. Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation said that it was closely monitoring BA.2, believed to be more transmissible than the BA.1 strain, but said there was no cause for alarm as this sub-variant does not seem to cause more severe disease.

As of Tuesday, the country reported just over 15,000 new cases and the number of active cases has fallen below the 2 lakh mark - indicating the receding of the third wave of COVID-19 and the gradual return to normalcy. Booster or third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which have been on many minds since the third wave began, have so far been given only to healthcare and frontline workers and vulnerable adults over the age of 60 - the NITI Aayog recently said a decision on a third dose for all other adults would only be taken based on scientific need.

So is there a scientific need for booster doses in India? What happens to those patients who experience long Covid - those who develop long-term symptoms after being infected?

And crucially, what next can we expect of the pandemic and will COVID-19 become endemic in the country - with the virus sticking around but not affecting large numbers?

Guest: Dr. Lancelot Pinto, Consultant Respirologist & Epidemiologist, P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai

Host: Zubeda Hamid

Edited by Reenu Cyriac