As India has just marked 100 crore vaccination feat and is pacing up well in vaccinating all adult population by the end of the year, health experts have cautioned to be careful during upcoming festival season.

With festivities around, any carelessness during the festivals may lead to a sudden surge in the number of COVID cases. This could derail the gain India has made as virus is still present in the country and in many parts of the world.

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“People will venture out to shop, meet relatives during festivals. However, meeting people during a short span of time may lead to the spread of infection. Besides, during prayers or enjoying a meal together, people forget to wear a mask or don’t wear it correctly and many forget to maintain the physical distance. This complacency in behaviour could undo the country’s efforts to curb the pandemic,” warns Dr Ramji Singh, director, AIIMS, Kalyani, West Bengal.

The complacency in people’s behaviour early this year, says experts, was one of the major reasons behind the severe second wave. “When the infection spreads uncontrollably, it gives the virus an opportunity to mutate more. These mutations can change its characteristics—it can become less or more transmissible or virulent. The only way to contain the virus’s spread is by following Covid Appropriate Behaviour particularly during festive celebration,” says Dr Gitanjali Batmanabane, director, AIIMS, Bhubaneswar.

Dr Nitin Nagarkar, director AIIMS, Raipur says, people need to remember that early this year the cases had gone down only to shoot up in April, the month when the country saw a massive second wave of the pandemic. “In February, the country was reporting around 8000 cases, but as soon as individuals and communities become complacent, the cases surged alarmingly.  I urge people to remain cautious and to follow Covid Appropriate Behaviour, no matter what. People should keep wearing a mask and avoid crowding even while celebrating festivities.”

Social gatherings of all kinds including during the festival seasons, cautions Dr Sarman Singh, director, AIIMS, Bhopal, could turn into a spreader event if the community and society fail to practice Covid Appropriate Protocols. “People must be careful while participating in gatherings or while going to any crowded market areas. But that does not mean that you cannot celebrate the festivals together. Technology has empowered us to remain emotionally and socially connected through virtual mediums.”

Dr Saurabh Varshney, director, AIIMS Deogarh,  says unless people act responsibly, it is impossible to defeat the deadly SARS-Cov-2. “If we want to go back to a normal in the near future, we need to impose self-restrictions, and the most important is to avoid socialising during festivals. If we can limit our social gathering for a few months till the time a large proportion of our population gets inoculated, we can successfully create a deterrent against spread of infection to a large extent,” he says. “In case it is essential and unavoidable, one has to follow physical distancing, wear a mask and maintain hand hygiene.”

The country aims to vaccinate its entire adult population people by the end of this year. Experts say the vaccine provides over 95 percent protection against severe disease and hospitalization, which means post-vaccination, most cases of COVID would be mild or asymptomatic. The government has also initiated a month-long “har ghar dastak” campaign in November to ensure that it reaches out to those who may have missed their 2nd and 1st dose for some contextual reason.