United States' leading health expert Anthony Fauci stated the obvious when he said it doesn't appear that there's 'a great degree of severity' associated with the Omicron variant. In the same breath, he didn't forget to emphasise that the world needs to 'be careful' before determining that 'it is less severe or it really doesn't cause any severe illness, comparable to Delta'. The element inherent in his note is that of uncertainty — the word that limits global approach towards Omicron. The world holds its breath against the possibility of the third wave — which is uncertain. While it is clear that Omicron is more contagious than the Delta variant, concrete evidence is still awaited to ascertain whether it is more virulent than Delta and whether it could go on to become the dominant strain in the near future. Floating half-baked theories could be detrimental to global safety. When uncertainty is the only truth, it must be accepted. There is a need to base our preventive actions on the acceptance of uncertainty rather than any factitious or unsubstantiated information. So far, the Omicron cases have been recorded in 30 countries. In India, 21 cases have been reported across four states — Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujrat alongside Delhi. It may be wrong to expect any sudden improvement in the situation. More cases will likely surface in the coming weeks — both in India and at the global level. We have already faced similar situations in the past two years. Humanity has tided across the threats posed by different mutants of the virus — though losing large number of human lives. The current situation is an opportunity to come out with greater pooling of resources, research and expertise at a global level — more than ever before. It can still be said that humans currently stand in a somewhat advantageous position. The reason to substantiate this conviction is that we still have a couple of months before the possible emergence of a third wave of the pandemic. The vitality of this time window has to be understood with greater urgency. India, in particular, had a harrowing experience of the second wave, when the country found itself in a fierce storm following a brief period of complacency towards the start of this year. Fortunately, India today is well-equipped with two of the most critical weapons against the virus — vaccination apparatus and testing strategy. What is required is optimum utilisation of these weapons. Optimum utilisation not just refers to ramping up of vaccination and testing, which are of course important. There is also a need for greater coordination among all states in terms of information sharing, equitable capacity building, etc. No matter how prepared a particular region is, it will still face harsh consequences if the adjoining regions are not well-prepared. It is incumbent upon the Central government to ensure that its ramped-up testing and vaccination drives don't leave any region behind. Emphasis should be on building up structural procedures that would serve as ready-made strategies in case further variants emerge in the future — we all have enough reason to believe that they can. It would be pertinent here to clarify that all these long-term preparations are worth making, irrespective of the fact whether or not Omicron emerges as a dominant strain. It would even be best to take forward the spirit of coordination at the global level. In the first place, the global giants need to be convinced that as long as they don't adhere to the principles of vaccine equity, the threat of Covid will keep looming over the world — irrespective of the development status of the countries. Emergence of Omicron from a particular country, and then its spread across the globe, should serve as a lesson for entire humanity. Compartmentalised safety is the last thing that could save the world. Reason says that if the pandemic is a global problem, it must require global solutions. To sum up, until concrete evidence comes out, we must treat uncertainty as the only certain thing, and prepare for the worst-case scenario to save every single human life. Apart from ensuring immediate necessities of vaccination and testing, long-term structural solutions must be sought. Also, there is a need for coordination at all levels. Most importantly, panic has to be avoided all throughout.