Dr. Gagandeep Kang, India’s top virologist has recently said that since the number of Covid-19 cases in the country has stabilized now, the deaths caused due to the virus will also stabilize soon and if it fails to do so then it can only point to an issue with reporting authorities.
Kang, a member of the Supreme Court-appointed committee on medical oxygen in an interview to ANI said, “Death is a lagging indicator, it comes two to three weeks after case numbers climb. Now that the numbers have stabilized, we should expect deaths to also stabilize and start to taper off. If they do not, there is an issue with some aspect of our reporting systems.”
Death is lagging indicator, it comes 2-3 weeks after case numbers climb. Now that the numbers have stabilised, we should expect deaths to also stabilise & start to taper off. If they don’t, there’s issue with some aspect of our reporting systems: Dr Gagandeep Kang, top virologist pic.twitter.com/kpGnZyjODq
— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2021
Looking at the mortality rate is not a favored way to measure the current situation of the pandemic as people who are dying are usually infected at least prior two to three weeks, which means deaths don’t reflect the existing spread of the virus, explained the virologist.
Dr. Gagandeep Kang, who is an advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister on Covid issues while discussed regarding the shortage of vaccines across the country, pointed out that vaccinations have slowed down due to a slow or limited supply of vaccines, which will go up once companies ramp up their production.
Several states like Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka have suspended their vaccination program due to the shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines against the novel coronavirus for beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years.
According to official data issued on Tuesday, India recorded 1,96,427 fresh infections and 3,741 deaths in the last 24 hours.
“Another option would be to import vaccines if we could. But globally there is a shortage of vaccines. The only options available are the Russians and the Chinese vaccines. We have to decide, which one we are willing to buy and get those in,” Kang said.
Currently, two Covid-19 vaccines are being manufactured in India – Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech. On January 16, India started its Covid vaccination drive
India started its Covid vaccination drive on January 16 for the healthcare and frontline workers. Phase 3 of the vaccination drive was started on May 1 for the beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years