Omicron: Is India Better Prepared in 2022 for a Third COVID-19 wave?

With the rise of the new variant, originally called B.1.1.529 and now Omicron by the WHO, it is another cause for worry – although more research is required to decide how risky it is. But now the question arises: Is India prepared for the Corona third wave?

It’s possible India may not witness a huge rise in cases because studies indicate most Indians already have antibodies against the predominant Delta variant. In addition, Four-fifth of all adults have also been partly vaccinated.

The recent outbreak of the dengue virus- an endemic disease – in several Indian states shows that the health system is still not prepared to detect and fight against emerging and re-emerging diseases.

Hospitals are already stretched to fight dengue, and here lies the problem. When the pandemic came in early 2020, the hope was that the strict lockdown would allow the government to strengthen an understaffed and underfunded public health system.

Leading political leaders and senior health policymakers constantly said that was the reason behind the first lockdown.

But a year on, a second Covid wave shattered India as hospitals ran out of beds, medicines, and oxygen a year on. Medical bills skyrocketed in a fragmented market with spotty insurance coverage, and people borrowed money or sold family assets to pay up.

Soon after, in July 2021, the government announced a second Covid-19 package to amplify health infrastructure. But some claimed that the allocated amount was little, and there was no visible urgency to set it to action.

The emergence of Omicron should be utilized as an opportunity to re-evaluate pandemic preparedness countrywide- including improved and targeted Covid testing, genomic sequencing and accelerated vaccine coverage in adults.