Chennai: The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic might have set in on 4 July, according to a Hyderabad-based researcher who has analysed daily data on new infections and deaths over the last 15 months.
Also, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday appealed to State governments to put a bar on large gatherings as it cautioned against a looming third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘With the global evidence available and the history of any pandemics, the third wave is inevitable and imminent,’ read a statement from the medical body.
Dr Vipin Srivatsava, an eminent physicist and former pro-vice-chancellor, University of Hyderabad, pointed out that the pattern of the new coronavirus cases and deaths since 4 July mirrors the graph of the first week of February 2021, when the second wave started in the country.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation’s chief scientist has advised against people mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines from different manufacturers, calling it a ‘dangerous trend’ since there was little data available about the health impact.
‘It’s a little bit of a dangerous trend here. We are in a data-free, evidence-free zone as far as mix and match,’ Soumya Swaminathan told an online briefing.