A third Covid wave in India is inevitable and it could hit the country in the next six to eight weeks, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria told this morning amid unlocking in parts of the country after weeks of strict restrictions. The country’s main challenge is vaccinating a huge population and the increase in dose gaps for Covishield may not be a bad approach to provide protection to cover more people, he explained.

The predictions were made in a meeting chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, with data pointing to the fact that the total number of cases in the third wave could be double of those in the second wave, with active cases reaching eight lakh. In Maharashtra, experts have now warned that at its peak, the third wave of the virus could cause 8 lakh active cases in the state, which currently has around 1.4 lakh patients.

During the first wave (in India), the virus was not spreading that rapidly all that changed during the second wave, and the virus became much more infectious. Now the Delta variant that’s spreading is much more infectious. Faster spread is likely.