60 to 70 % population will get coronavirus, if vaccine not developed in 2 yrs: US prof

Yash Goyal

Jaipur, May 10

Nearly 60 to 70 per cent of population will get coronavirus infection, if a vaccine is not developed in next 2 years, a Public Health Professor of Johns Hopkins University in USA, David Bishai said at a webinar on Saturday.

COVID-19 outbreak would not end until up to 70 per cent of population becomes immune to the virus as it may take between 18 and 24 months to develop a vaccine, Bishai, who is professor at Bloomberg School, said while interacting with six panel speakers and 722 participants in webinar organised by IIHMR here.

“If vaccine will not developed in next 2 years, it will impact Indian economy dramatically, particularly the health sector because there will be less money and the human resource available to run the existing programmes will not be enough.

Immediate need is to recover small business post Covid-19 by ensuring that the credit should reach them regularly by banks so that employment can be created,” he cautioned.

Speaking on the topic of ‘Effect of Covid-19 on Indian Economy: Policy and Programmatic Implications’, Narain Sinha, Professor of University of Botswana and Renowned Economist of Asian and African Regions, focused on issue of migrant labourers saying they are the backbone of Indian economy.

“During lockdown, 92 per cent of labourers have lost 1 to 4 week of their work and wages or have got less wages. The contribution of MSME to Indian GDP is 28 per cent and this sector is highly affected by the lockdown. The government should make immediate policies according to local demographic, social and economic fabric,” he said.

Tamal Bandoyapadhyay, author and Consulting Editor of Business Standard, underlined that the government and RBI should come up with monetary solution to decrease fiscal deficit.

“The Rs 1.7 trillion relief package for the poor announced by the government is quite far from reality. The money transferred to Jan Dhan accounts and food/ration provided to daily wage earners is not enough for their survival. The Government and banks are adopting conservative approach towards spending money during this crisis. If the government and RBI would not come up with monetary solution, the fiscal deficit will certainly go up post Covic-19 as this crisis is different from what we have observed in 2008,” Bandhoyapadhyay warned.