According to WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, COVID-19 may be entering a stage of endemicity in India, with a low or moderate level of transmission taking place.

The stage of endemicity refers to a point when the population learns to live with a virus. The epidemic stage, on the other hand, is when the virus overwhelms a population. In an interview for news website The Wire, Dr Swaminathan said that considering the size of India and the heterogeneity of population as well as the immunity status in different parts of the country, it is possible that the situation may continue to advance in this manner with some ups and downs in different parts of the country.

When asked about clearance to Covaxin, Dr Swaminathan said that she was confident that the agency’s technical group will be satisfied to approve Covaxin as one of its authorized vaccines and the clearance could possibly come by mid-September… (NDTV – PTI, August 24, 2021)