Now that the adrenaline rush around the state election results has waned, a quick reminder that the country is still struggling with the second surge of covid without any respite.

India’s cases reported a dip for the third consecutive day, however the country still logged in 3.57 lakh new cases of coronavirus on 4 May, taking the cumulative tally in the country to over 2 crore cases.

But the dip cannot a reason to be hopeful yet, as it has not been ascertained if it has to do with low infections or low testing. While governments say that the infection is coming down in certain states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, most experts argue that it is the lack of testing and underreporting of deaths and infections that has projected the dip.

Despite this alarming situation in the country that necessitates urgent vaccination for the masses, the wait for vaccine shots is stretching out longer yet, as the vaccine stock in the country is all spent up.

While states are unable to kickstart mass immunisation right away, Serum Institute's CEO Adar Poonawalla himself said that the vaccine shortage is expected go on till July.

But as India struggles to control the second wave, what do the appearance of new variants in the country mean? Are the new variants behind this surge? Are more and more variants likely to pop up so long the infections aren't under control? And at a time when our vaccine stocks are running dry, what kind of a vaccination strategy could we adapt to? Tune in to The Big Story!

Host and Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha

Guest: Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor of Microbiology at Christian Medical College, Vellore

Editor: Shelly Walia

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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