Will 2022 witness the pandemic to an endemic?

India has welcomed 2022 with Omicron and Unicorn parallelly. It is crystal clear that mutations of Covid-19 virus are here to stay for at least the next few years. It is likely that towards the later part of 2022, Covid-19 may establish itself as an endemic disease in India. What is worse is, this variant has struck just when companies across industries had managed to get back some semblance of normalcy or were gearing to reopen their office spaces for their employees.

The Government has warned people not to be lulled by the narrative that the third wave or Omicron wave is mild and not fatal. The World Health Organization has named the Omicron as “Variant of Concern”, and it is concerning the whole world. The new variant of COVID is also named as B.1.1.529.

Most common symptoms for the new COVID Variant “Omicron” are fever, cough, tiredness, loss of taste or smell and the Less common symptoms for the new COVID Variant “Omicron” are sore throat, headache, aches, pains, diarrhea, a rash on skin, discolouration of fingers or toes, red or irritated eyes, whereas, the serious symptoms for the new COVID Variant “Omicron” are difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, loss of speech or mobility, or confusion or chest pain.

This is a good thing that the Government of India is working to stop the spread of the new variant of this deadly virus, and we can also say that the vaccines have also helped India to defeat the virus.

A study comparing clinical parameters and outcome of the patients admitted with Omicron wave with previous waves is important for understanding and planning strategy for managing this third wave in India. It is indeed clear that Omicron causes severity, hospital admissions and deaths (2.7% among patients coming to emergency). Also, it is proven beyond doubt that vaccination almost does not prevent infection with Omicron but certainly reduces the severity of infection and leads to better outcomes.

The admission rate of 41.3% (among emergency visits) and mortality of 2.7% should convey caution to all of us. The vaccination should be the key as it works for all the variants in reducing severity. We should also utilize the newer therapy of Molnupiravir and monoclonal antibodies judiciously (elderly and with co-morbidities) to minimize severity and prevent mortality. The number of cases in India are too large to be complacent. The system is well oiled and geared up to take care of a large number of severe cases, however, let us plan that we do not reach a stage where our healthcare system is overwhelmed, especially as a large number of Healthcare Workers are getting this infection.

Most doctors in the reputed hospitals in Delhi are recommending the Molnupiravir capsules. Last year, Remdesivir injection was used to treat coronavirus disease. There were records of selling millions of doses of duplicate Remdesivir injections and were seized last year in various parts in the country. Now with the recent news on Covid antiviral drug Molnupiravir has raised major safety concerns.

ICMR Chief Dr. Balram Bhargava said it has not been included in the national protocol for treatment of coronavirus. He further said, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.K. have not included it for treatment. It can cause teratogenicity, mutagenicity and it can also cause cartilage damage and can also be damaging to muscles also. Contraception will have to be done for three months for male and female if this drug is given because the child born could be problematic due to teratogenic influence as per the reports.

Deepak Sahu, President & CEO, VARINDIA