Thread by @VincentRK

I was wrong in my assessment. Two months ago, I felt India had somehow miraculously escaped the devastation caused by the pandemic in so many countries. COVID has humbled me, again.
No easy solutions for India except masks, distancing, and rapid vaccination. It is a crisis.

https://twitter.com/VincentRK/status/1361846711715586050

I still hope that one of the main points of my earlier thread that preexisting immunity (in addition to lower age and less obesity) will keep the mortality rate significantly lower is correct.

But with such a huge population, even a tiny mortality rate is millions of lives.

We thought 40% seroprevalence meant inching to herd immunity. No.

The 1.3 billion population means that 750 million people are still potentially susceptible and don't have immunity against COVID.

What happened in India has implications for countries that controlled COVID well like Australia, New Zealand, China, S.Korea, et al. If you relax precautions before herd immunity through vaccination is achieved, the population remains susceptible. If COVID enters, it devastates.

What happened in India has implications for Africa. We cannot assume anything. We must help vaccination in Africa on a massive scale.

What happens in India has implications for everyone in the world because with so many infections, numerous mutants arise. We have to help India get vaccinated. Fast. Please break any barriers for resources and help them achieve this goal. It helps everyone of us.

Since November people in India went about near normal lives as if the pandemic was over. Large crowds & no masks were common. There was a false sense of security. Even now people seem fatigued, and adherence to masks/distancing is low. Many places are resorting again to lockdowns