Herd Immunity From Past Omicron May Prevent Severe Outbreaks In India: Dr. Lal Path Labs Chief

Herd immunity built from past Omicron may prevent any severe outbreak in India, according to Arvind Lal, chairman of Dr. Lal Path Labs Ltd.

"China has not been able to develop proper immunity in its people due to extended lockdowns and a dearth of vaccinations," said Lal, who is also the managing director at Dr. Lal Path Labs. "The two Omicron subsets that we are seeing in China have already been in India earlier."

"They are not causing too much mortality but can cause core morbidities in the elderly," said Lal. "China lacks herd immunity."

According to Lal, India is facing a triple whammy of Covid, influenza, and respiratory syncytial viruses. "If the temperature drops by 5%, nasal immunity drops by 50%; hence, it is important to wear a mask that acts as a shield," said Lal.

India is also well prepared this time to fight Covid with Indian companies like Hetero Drugs Ltd. launching a generic version of Pfizer's oral tablet at a much cheaper price, Lal said, who expects increased testing in the country due to the triple whammy.

Dr. Lal Path Labs’ business is almost on par with pre-covid levels, the chairman said. Even the Delhi government's offer of free laboratory tests would not impact business as the laboratory operates at a different segment and in a different tier, the chairman said. "Increased competition has always increased business for the company."

The company will in fact benefit from the Delhi government's move as follow-up testing increases, Lal said. As such, the company is planning for deeper penetration in various geographies and is looking to expand further in South India, he said.

Lal expects the next financial year to be better than the current fiscal.