Please stop saying this "we may be more immune because we are exposed to more viruses". Doctors have repeatedly clarified that this is not true and this immunity does not help in COVID's case. This is an argument used by antivaxxers all across the country. This also pushes people to false medicines like Ayurveda/Homeotherapy

I have read some peer reviewed research that suggested that exposure to other coronaviruses (including SARS from 2003) do give some level of immunity to Covid 19

Yes and they are not common viruses that people get exposed to everyday.

Coronaviruses are common, and India is also in the region where this nasty one originated.

For all we know, a worse one swept through the population 3000 years ago and inferred some genetic immunity. Or they have cross immunity from recent infections.

It’s weird this never gets talked about, considering how all of the countries near China did quite well (relatively).

As I understand it around 1 in 4 colds are caused by coronaviruses. The Diamond Princess cruise ship only ever had 20% of the passengers that tested positive, implying a fair bit of previous immunity.

I don't think there are many antivaxxers in india. The group who are in Ayurveda are more likely to take the vaccine and continue using Ayurveda thats from my experience.

Unfortunately, there are plenty of antivaxxers in India, especially in the upper middle classes who copy talking points from crunchy western folks. Its not as high as that in, say, California but it is a non negligible fraction.

I have never seen anti-vaxxers in the majority of the population.

Credit goes to successive governments from various parties, who have largely not politicized the issue.

It also helps that the previous and current generation have seen the effects of non-vaccination, like polio afflicted ones.

In general, the population goes by the word of the medical establishment and there are no nonsensical opposing voices.

What is happening in USA is puzzling to me. Just goes to show that you can have all the wealth, infrastructure, research and qualified personnel in the world and still be beholden to crackpot ideas and conspiracy theories.

While this is true about people who follow Ayurveda,

Many people thought covid was not a big deal from because how easy the first wave went through. The vaccine slots were mostly free till a month back when the crunch started.

It was not a easy first wave. The cases were rising very fast from june till october. Then suddenly it came down. It did not go up during following festivals nor during winter. I don't think there has been put forward a very good explanation on why the cases went down. Now in peak summer it going up though way more rapidly than before. Question would be will it come down like before without much understanding of why it went up or down.

I have eaten street food in India. It may not look especially hygienic, but most of it is deep fried and that is going to kill off most pathogens pretty effectivley. Steamed (as opposed to fried) momos in Northern India seemed to be the thing that gave most people a bad stomach form anecdotal reports.

If you are "white" and want to experience Delhi Belly, try Pani Puri from roadside vendor. I think it has >80% success rate.

Pani Puri is usually cold served.

Sandwiches (yummy ones in Pune) are not deep fried or even properly roasted.

Samosas / Mirchi / Jalebi are made and kept out in containers for hours together, until they are cold.