These days, India is recording a record number of new infections and deaths as a result of the spread of covid-19. Recently warned Minister for Development Aid Dag-Inge Ulstein that the situation could create a global pandemic disaster and a global vaccine crisis.
– The situation in India is dramatic. We see that a more contagious virus variant leads to a sharp increase in infection, as we have also seen with the British virus variant in countries such as Ireland, England, Sweden and Norway, says director Frode Forland at the National Institute of Public Health to Dagbladet.
Norway’s Ambassador for Global Health John-Arne Røttingen at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs follows up:
– It is disturbing to see the situation in India, and it shows how vulnerable you are. The number of registered infections and deaths is probably just the tip of the iceberg, Røttingen tells Dagbladet.
SUBJECT DIRECTOR: Frode Forland at the National Institute of Public Health. Photo: Hans Arne Vedlog / Dagbladet
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Short explanation
Forland tries to give a brief explanation of why the situation has become so dramatic in India.
– India has a large population, a lot of poverty and there are many who live close by. The ability to keep your distance at home is a luxury that many do not have in India, and many do not have access to protective equipment. Thus, there are some basic preconditions for social measures that are missing, he says and continues:
– In parallel, we see that the health care system is collapsing. Lack of beds, infection control equipment, oxygen and probably vaccines are reported. The situation is very critical.
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Indian variant
The Indian virus variant, also called B.1.617, has mutations that make it suspected that it is more contagious than the original coronavirus variant and that the vaccines have less effect against it.
In an effort to avoid importing this variant, the government decided to impose quarantine hotel orders on all travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Iraq. In addition, discourages Ministry of Foreign Affairs all travel to the relevant countries.
– There are fears that we will spread the Indian virus variant, and in Norway we have tightened the entry rules to defend ourselves against this. So far, little research has been done on the variant, and we therefore do not know how good the vaccines are against it. But the variant probably does not differ much from the British variant in terms of infectivity, says Forland and continues:
– Norway is not much more threatened by the Indian virus variant as the spread of infection is already dominated by a fierce variant. But in the long run, there may be variants that are more contagious and against which the vaccines have less effect. That is why it is also important for us to have outbreaks in all countries of the world.
TOPPER: Norway’s Ambassador for Global Health, John-Arne Røttingen, and Minister for Development Aid Dag-Inge Ulstein. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB
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New waves
One of the health authorities’ biggest concerns is that there will be a large spread of mutated virus variants in Norway against which the vaccines have significantly less effect. Røttingen and Forland explain that the risk of such virus variants occurring increases as a result of uncontrolled spread of infection.
– The longer it takes before you get control of such extensive spread of infection as you see in India, the greater the risk that the virus mutates and that we get variants that the vaccines have less effect against, says Røttingen.
Forland expects new waves of infection in country after country.
– We will probably get new waves of infection with more contagious virus in country after country, and especially in countries with a lot of poverty. This leads to an increasing risk that new virus mutations may occur, which in turn can spread to other parts of the world, says Forland.
